


Deify

by Gastrodon, somefangirl



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Day 4: Free Space, M/M, ZoLu Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-06-16 12:04:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 53,297
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15436656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gastrodon/pseuds/Gastrodon, https://archiveofourown.org/users/somefangirl/pseuds/somefangirl
Summary: Fate lands Luffy on a journey with Death to return his lost family, and Luffy discovers there's more to the legends than what he's been told.





	1. Fire, Death

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lew (somefangirl): dont ask me what time period this fic is supposed to take place in bc halfway thru mads and i realized we were picturing an entirely different ancient time and place. and then we had them visit a diner. so it really doesnt matter.

In the beginning there was nothing. An infinite expanse of darkness, too large to be understood by any mortal. On a whim of the universe, emerged from this darkness a God. He was called Brook, skeletal in appearance, as the skeleton is the structure on which all life is supported.

However, Brook was alone, and for a long time he remained that way. He hummed into the dark, the sound reaching far into its expanse, and as though only just noticing him, the empty air creates light. A burning ball which humans would one day name the sun formed in front of him, blinding in its brightness and kind in its warmth, granting the God an idea. Brook sang into the new light the first true songs, asking the universe to grant him company.

The first song, cheerful and inviting, reached far off into the surrounding light, traveling in front of Brook. In a far off pocket of the vast space, slowly it won over the universe. The space bent into the shape of a new God. He was called Franky. He bent the air around him to create something of a telescope to travel towards Brook, making him the God of invention. But this was not all.

The second song, lonely and forlorn, traveled farther, inspiring another section of the vast emptiness’s kindness to create a second God. She was called Robin. Robin turned to the empty expanse around her and created thousands of twinkling eyes which humans would one day name stars. She became the Goddess of the sky, using these eyes to find her way to Brook and Franky.

One male and one female, these Gods were not simply bone like Brook but flesh and blood. They went shortly after their creation to find Brook, Robin arriving first, Franky shortly after. They were the first couple, and the songs imploring the universe for their creation shaped Brook into the God of music and love.

The three of them were happy for a time, but found that this was not enough.

They felt as if they could have more.

Thusly, It was Franky’s idea that the two of them create more Gods. He wanted to create the first family, and so the God of family he became. Franky and Robin asked the starry emptiness for a family, the universe answering with four new Gods: Zoro, Nami, Usopp, and Sanji.

The Gods, now numbering seven, set for themselves a new task: creating a place to stay. Franky gathered up as many of his wife’s stars as he could to compact them and create the basis for what would one day be known as the Earth.

The universe answered its creation with a new God called Jinbe. Jinbe was created to furnish the new space, creating rock and dirt to stand on and water to drink from. However, the Earth was not yet livable, only a place for the Gods to get their footing. It also served as the perfect template for the four young Gods to test their powers.

Usopp took the first step. He covered the new planet with plant life, making the surface beautiful, flush with nature. Being the first to act made him the God of bravery, with his creations making him the God of agriculture. After seeing what he had made, the other young Gods moved into action. Nami created weather and seasons, giving their new planet wind and rains and a number of other wonderful creations. Sanji went through the plants which Usopp had created and made fruits which could be eaten, introducing food to the Gods. When night fell, Sanji created fire to keep them warm, give them light. Each God answered a pull deep in themselves, improving the Earth and making it the place we know today. The only one who did not act was Zoro, who sat back, watching his siblings build their world with happiness lining their features. He did not yet feel a pull to act, but his family did not mind. They loved him and each other no matter what they had to offer, allowing for the family of nine to live together as one on the world which they had created.

They were happy.

But they were not yet done.

Pulled by the new need to express their powers, build this place up as their own, they traveled around to find new discoveries that they didn’t see when putting their gifts in motions, new surprises along their little journeys together, the four young gods filled with reckless abandon at the world stretched out before them.

In the desert, Nami discovered a Goddess called Vivi. She was the Goddess of peace, appearing from the calm and quiet which the Earth spent its time, emerging from the dunes silently.

Nami, upon seeing the young Goddess turn to her, felt the stars twine around her heart. The world seemed to bend with Vivi’s appearance, her voice. Brook felt the blessing upon them before either of them realized, granting passage for the first love born on Earth soil.

The final God to appear was found first by his creations. The Gods began to find bugs and small critters in their forests, things with four legs and fur and which did not look like them. The Gods followed their trails, and eventually the last God was introduced. Zoro stumbled upon him, a deer with intelligent eyes along with human speech. The God of life and animals, Chopper populated the planet with new and exciting life. He was loved by all the Gods. He was also the last God to emerge.

After a few hundred years of this life, though, Chopper approached the others with an idea. Whether he suggested the nine of them create another God or if he suggested the first human is another detail lost to time, but regardless the Gods which had created the Heavens and Earth worked together to create another being. Once again, Zoro stayed back, but his help was not needed. Each of the other Gods worked to create a wonderful being. Her name was Merry, the first human being. Each of the Gods loved her and bestowed her with gifts. The wealth of the planet, bravery, food and charity, peace, health, knowledge, invention, and love.

However, because she was a human, Merry lacked things that the Gods had. She bled red instead of gold, and she could not create things from nothing the way other Gods could. The difference which would prove to be the most terrible, however was that Merry could not fly the way the Gods could, grounded by the Earth’s tug.

Despite this, everything seemed happy for a time, at least to most of the Gods. The Gods and Merry lived on Earth together, but this happy existence would not last.

Secretly Zoro, the God of nothing, was jealous. He had no power, just like Merry. The only difference between them was that he was a God, and yet she seemed to be more favored than he was. It seemed unfair to him that someone below him should be considered above him, and so he decided to act. Zoro tricked Merry into following him up to the top of the tallest mountain, telling her he would teach her how to fly like the others. Once they reached the highest point, he pushed her down, and when she reached the bottom Zoro claimed his new title: the God of death.

The other Gods were heartbroken and furious, inventing together the emotions of anger and grief. Zoro was cast away from the other Gods, and around them as they mourned things began to die. Plants wilted, animals passed on, and the first seasons of fall and winter passed as Zoro explored his new domain. Finally, after months, things began to live again. Merry was buried on the mountain on which she had died. Brook, the first God, gave Merry one last gift: in the spring her body began to decay, so her body could become one with the Earth once more, and she could live again through the plants which sprang from her body.

The Gods decided to create a new human, which they would not tell Zoro about. Her name was Sunny, and to her they gifted all the same things they gifted Merry. Though they did their best to keep her creation a secret, Zoro found out anyway, and he was angry. He appeared as they made her and gifted her something new: violence. This violence would then create all the evils of the world, corrupting the gifts which the other Gods had given Sunny. The Gods were furious, but there was nothing which could be done.

Sunny, like all humans, would one day die. The other Gods where unready to cope with another heartbreak, so they made for her dozens of other humans to keep her company. These are the humans which would eventually become all of us. With this final gift, the Gods retreated to the mountain which Merry was buried on. They created for themselves a place to live, Skypiea, retreating there for most of their time. Zoro was not welcome in this place—“

“But he is now,” Luffy says, cutting into the story. He moves off the broom he’d been leaning on as he listened while the storyteller looks to him. “Zoro made up with the Gods years ago! He’s welcome there whenever he wants, but he stays in the Afterlife to welcome the dead! When we die, he shows us where to go.”

The storyteller slumps his shoulders, body lined with irritation at the young attendant interrupting his retelling of the creation myth, “Well, yes, I was getting there,” The storyteller grumbles, “Though I can’t imagine why the Gods would allow him to return...”

Moving with his broom, Luffy strides to where the storyteller sits in front of temple goers, devout religious heads, children, and offers them all a welcoming smile.

“Zoro provides shelter for all passing souls,” Luffy recites dutifully, chipper as he does, “The Gods accepted him and his role, the end of life, and now we use this temple to worship him and what he does for those we love who may have left this world. Why wouldn’t the Gods let him back in? He’s the coolest one out of all of them!”

“The... coolest? Perhaps, but certainly the cruelest,” The storyteller responds with disdain, eyes rolling at the idea of Zoro being worshiped at all, “He’s been around since the beginning of the Earth, and yet that’s one of the only stories about him. There are many stories of other Gods roaming the Earth, meeting their followers, rewarding the faithful... Zoro never does any of these things. A temple to him is a thankless job. Killing the first human is possibly the only important thing he’s ever done.”

“You probably shouldn’t be talking bad about him in his own temple. You may get led away by spirits,” Luffy hums, stepping away from the small crowd to resume sweeping. “If you’re here to leave a offering, he likes booze! Oh, and rice, if you’ve got any.”

“Right. Of course,” The storyteller says, standing. With this motion, those gathered to hear him begin to disperse, all muttering excuses about forgetting offerings, not having anything to offer, bad timings, the like. They all shuffle away, the storyteller warily eyeing Zoro’s statue at the front as he does, like it’d come crashing down at any moment.

“Zoro's forgiving,” Luffy calls out to the lurkers, then moves his eyes back to the floor, the smalle pile of dirt he’s created from sweeping. Everyone always forgets their offerings, leaving the plates bare under Zoro's statue. The only people who offer are the ones who work under him, him and his two brothers.

After the story that was just preached at Zoro’s own temple, Luffy isn’t exactly surprised to see the statue empty once again tonight.

Luffy snaps his head up when he hears the sound of a door shutting, faced with his brother looking disappointed with the empty plates.

“It’s getting late. We should lock up for the night.” Ace comments, turning toward Zoro’s statue. “Nothing again, huh?”

“Nothing again!” Luffy reports, leaning on his broom, a slight whine in his voice. “Why does nobody want to offer something to him? He never gets anything. I can’t even steal snacks when there are no snacks to steal!”

“You should really find a less selfish reason for worrying about your God, you know,” Ace snorts at the notion, though if he’s honest, he’s stolen snacks from the altar plenty of times as well. It’s not like Zoro ever comes down to punish him for it. He doesn’t seem to mind.

“Now, you two,” a voice laughs, the owner of it walking in from the outside. “Don’t be so worried about the altar, selfish reasons or not. Zoro knows his problems, right?”

“Sabo,” Luffy huffs a sigh, the broom dropping as he moves to look up at the large statue of their infamous God. He’s meant to look terrifying, clad in armor and a cloak bearing the visible dents and scratches of war. However, parts are crumbling away with the etchings faded out after years of its existence, the stringy cobwebs gathered by its head a testament to that. “It isn’t fair. All the other temples get tons of snacks, but we get... dirt!”

“They’ll have to come to Zoro soon enough. No matter who you are and what God you worship, we all die in the end,” Sabo points out. Luffy groans at the familiar, often repeated sentence, since Zoro never gets offerings or guests to his temple. With a kick to his broom, slouching grumpily, he stomps off to start locking up the temple.

Luffy heads outside into the crisp summer air to check for any stragglers to their temple. Seeing no one, Luffy plops down on the step a moment, wanting to clear his head. Luffy’s spent his whole life working in this temple. Zoro isn’t as social with his devotees like the other Gods are, nor is he one to give blessings, so Luffy’s one of very few followers. The temple’s been in his family for a long time, and is both the nicest and the oldest that Luffy knows of. Even so, it’s just him and his brothers working there. Luffy doesn’t think it’s fair. Even if Zoro’s never given him a ‘sign’ or a gift, Luffy still feels like he knows Zoro. He believes strongly that Zoro isn’t as bad as everyone says. He thinks, if they met, they could be friends, and Luffy would know for sure everyone else is wrong about Zoro.

"Tomorrow I'll just show everyone," Luffy decides, standing up, "I'll figure out a way for Zoro to give us a sign! I should pick up lots of booze, that's gotta bring him down here!"

With his plan in mind, Luffy hops back inside, locking the door. He and his brothers live in a back room of the temple, a little storage room that’s more like a glorified closet than a living space. With the temple closed for the night, he heads to the back to join his brothers for dinner.

The air shifts to welcome a powerful presence outdoors, unbeknownst to the brothers. Draped in a cloak, a figure circles the temple in the dark, walking through the  dead brush, the wilting plants, onto the stone courtyard, just looking into the windows of the temple, as if checking for something, humming a happy little tune to himself as he does.

"Another empty one, huh?" The cloaked figure muses, looking around at the lack of life in this place, "I guess this will do, then."

From his hand appears a flame. He touches it to the temple, and though it’s stone, it begins to burn.

The flames of a God are more powerful than any mortal-made building, after all.

"No hard feelings," The God apologizes to the temple’s stone, as though it could answer him. He pulls his hand away to watch the fires slowly spread. He moves back, turning away with confidence it'll be burning down within minutes. "Just a little bit of a grudge."

The cloaked man walks off, picking his tune up again. He doesn’t care to stick around and see the destruction. He already knows how this ends.

* * *

 “Did you leave something on the fire?” Sabo asks, looking to Ace, “I smell smoke.”

"Smoke?" Ace sniffs the air, smelling it as well. He stands, his chair clattering to the floor. "...I put out the fire. There shouldn't be anything burning. Luffy, did you re-light it?"

“I didn’t,” Luffy says, as Ace walks over to the back door. When he touches the handle, though, he immediately has to pull away, the handle too hot to touch. He looks back to Luffy and Sabo, “Shit. We need to get out of here.”

"Huh?" Luffy looks over at Ace, then protests as he's pulled up, "Wait, what?! How did a fire start?!"

“I don’t know, but we don’t really have time to talk about it,” Ace says, “Come on, Luffy, Sabo. We can’t stay.”

Sabo pushes Luffy forward, to the door leading through the temple.

"Check the other door, go! It shouldn't be as hot!" He says. Luffy lets himself be shoved, and Ace opens the door. Even behind Ace, Luffy feels a wave of heat him.

“Holy shit,” Sabo says, “The stone is burning.”

"The stone!?" Ace repeats, "How the fuck is the stone burning?! Ah, shit--"

Ace covers his mouth and nose, eyeing the smoke. It’s quickly filling the room from the fire burning the walls, so they need to move fast.

“I don’t know!” Sabo says, coughing. He pushes ahead of Ace, putting Luffy in front of himself. He knows Luffy is Ace’s priority, too, so he knows Ace won’t care. All they have to do is cut through the temple door and they’ll be out. Luffy lets himself get shoved along to the front of the pack, running as fast as he can, trying to be careful of anything that might catch his clothes on fire. He keeps checking behind himself to make sure Ace and Sabo are with him, stumbling through the flames of their temple. He drops his hand from his nose, rushing toward the door. As soon as his hand touches the door, he flinches back.

"It's too hot!" Luffy yells.

“What?” Ace asks. He touches the handle, then coughs out a curse. “There has to be another— the windows!”

As he finishes speaking, they hear above them the loud groaning of a ceiling struggling to support itself. They look up, seeing the ceiling is incredibly unstable. If they aren’t fast, they’ll be crushed to death by stone long before any fire can touch them.

“Go!” Sabo yells, running forwards. Ace is behind him, running, and Luffy lingers just a moment at the door, trying to open it still. The ceiling comes down, Luffy startles when he hears a crash behind him. He turns to see the ceiling has crashed down between them, separating him from his brothers.

"Ace! Sabo!" Luffy yells, rushing toward the wreckage. "Don't worry, I'll move these!"

“That fire is hot enough to burn stone, don’t touch it!” Sabo yells. He looks back to the window, then to Ace. They’re able to leave by the window, but Luffy is stuck. If they go now, at the rate this temple is falling apart... “We can’t— We can’t leave him.”

"Then what do you want to do?!" Ace demands, looking around the area they've been trapped in. There's too much destruction around them, and the temple collapsing in as they speak.

“I don’t—“ Sabo starts, but a wall crashes next to them. Their section of the temple is quickly crumbling, and they’ve lost their chance at escape. Soon they’ll be buried, all three of them. Their section is smaller than Luffy’s, however, so it will collapse sooner. “Zoro. We... We need to ask Zoro to save him.”

"Zoro?!" Ace repeats, incredulous, "He's never--he's never even shown us he's there! What if he doesn't even… he doesn't even show himself?"

"Ace!! Sabo!" Luffy flinches as he burns his hands, furiously trying to make it through the collapsed stone and wood, trying to get his brothers out. He coughs loudly, the burning rubble giving off large amounts of smoke which he’s breathing in while trying to free himself.

“Well, if we stay here--which we have to, we’re stuck--we’re all going to die! Luffy has more time than us, but he can’t get out,” Sabo says, “We’re going to burn to death anyway. We could... Gods take sacrifices. Zoro has to listen to two of his own priests.”

Ace looks at Sabo for a moment. He takes Sabo's hand, nodding, holding out the other one for him.

"Right. Come on, then. We have a lot of praying to do,” Ace says. Sabo takes it, grim determination set on his face considering what exactly they’re planning. Betting everything on a distant God is insane, but if they can’t believe in him after dedicating their whole lives to him, who can?

“If he ignores _this_...“ Sabo mumbles, “Then I’m kicking his ass once we see him.” He looks to the wreckage. He can’t see Luffy through the rubble. “Luffy! Move away from the wreckage! Find somewhere safe, we’re getting... we’re getting help! Just stay calm, okay? We love you!”

“What’re you guys talking about?!” Luffy demands, “You can’t—I heard everything collapse, what're you doing?!”

Luffy keeps trying to move things, but he can feel his body getting weaker as his head grows more light, the smoke getting to him. Luffy doesn’t hear a response. Before he can yell again, he hears another loud crash on the other side of the wreckage.

“Ace!? Sabo!?” Luffy yells. He takes a few steps back. They... they’re fine, right? They went for help! But... that was his only way out. He’s trapped. Luffy runs back to the door and slams himself against it, trying to break it down. He throws himself again and again, but fails continuously. The door is meant to stand against the furious loved ones of the deceased, of course it won’t move for Luffy. He’s alone now, Ace and Sabo gone, nobody in the temple. Falling back from the door, Luffy winces as he presses against hot stone. More of the temple collapses around Luffy, but the fact he’s about to die by himself scares him more than his own death. He struggles to his feet, turning to find Zoro’s statue looming above him: an angry but familiar face peering out from the smoke. Luffy stumbles over to the statue. He’s sure he won’t be conscious much longer, but... at least he has Zoro to see him out. He doesn’t want to die alone.

Luffy collapses at the statue’s feet, half on top of the metal serving as a base, his eyes dropping shut. The metal of the base burns his chest and his arms, but he can’t find it in him to care. He’d rather burn here, on the statue, than die by himself on the cooler floor.

As Luffy slowly blacks out, he could almost swear the foot of the statue in front of him looks like flesh. Maybe Zoro has come to personally see him off? In his last moments of consciousness, Luffy feels two hands on his shoulders. Luffy smiles a bit. He’s probably hallucinating, but at least he doesn’t feel alone.

“Alright, stay with me,” A voice mutters. It’s smooth, pleasing to his ears. He doesn’t have the energy to respond, and in a few seconds he’s unconscious.

Zoro sighs, tucking his hands under Luffy to pick him up. He’s pretty sure smoke inhalation alone could kill Luffy, but he has to at least try to help. Two of his three most dedicated priests sacrificed themselves for the third’s survival, after all. Zoro steps forwards, stretching his stiff limbs—possessing a statue for quick access to the mortal realm is always annoying—and walks towards the temple door. Weakened now by the fire, and Zoro having the strength of a God at his disposal, the wood splinters and breaks apart under Zoro’s touch. Black smoke pours out of the front of the temple, causing Zoro to cradle Luffy close to his chest and into the stone of his statue. Better for them both if he doesn’t inhale any more of it.

Zoro eases out of the marble form with one movement, bleeding out of the rocks to reform and take Luffy from the statue’s arms.

“Here we go,” He mutters quietly as he carefully holds Luffy, knowing full well the fragility of human life. He uses the cloth of his cloak to wipe away ash and sweat plastered onto Luffy’s face. Luffy is completely unconscious, eyebrows pinched in pain. Zoro scans him. He’s covered in burns and scratches, and there’s no doubt he has some trauma to match. His hands are the most damaged from trying to pull apart the wreckage of the temple.

Zoro walks a few paces away from the door, looking back at the temple. It’s upsetting, even to him, watching it burn away. The fire burns so fast no one has even had time to come help put it out yet—or maybe no one in town cares to try. Zoro doesn’t have much time to linger, though, and so turns back towards the town. He’s got to find a doctor who can help Luffy if there is any chance of Luffy surviving. The walk down to the town is a bit of a long one, but he keeps Luffy close. That was his last temple, as well as those three being his last priests. It hurts to think about for too long. Zoro looks down at Luffy, his only living priest. He doesn’t know if Luffy will stay with him, given he’ll be taking Luffy’s brothers once he’s brought Luffy to town.

Following the smell of death, of injury and sickness, Zoro can easily find the hospital. This little town is run down, no doubt from the fact it’s plagued with his presence. The grass is dead, the buildings cracked, rotting wood, nearly barren. It’s a familiar sight to Zoro. The hospital building looks nicer than most.

“Sir, I’m sorry, but—“ The doctor starts to say, but stops when he sees Zoro’s face. Although all of Zoro’s statues are wrong about his appearance, Zoro looks threatening enough without people knowing who he is. Zoro is adorned with numerous swords at his waist and obvious muscle in his arms showing that he can use them. This, accompanied by the heavy, beaten armor that gleams through holes in the torn cloak around his shoulders, would stop anyone from wanting to cross him. Besides, even if they don’t realize it, mortals often know when they’re in the presence of a God.

“I don’t believe it’s a good practice to reject the injured,” Zoro comments calmly, walking past the doctor to one of the empty beds where he lies Luffy down. “The injured and sick are in need of constant care. You would be wise to remember that.”

In one motion, Zoro unclasps his cloak to drape it over Luffy’s body, grimacing at the ripped fabric revealing some of his burnt skin. It’s dirty as well, but holds the protective properties of a God, preventing him from further harm. He hopes Luffy takes it as a form of comfort as well.

He can feel the eyes of the doctor on him, waiting. With a sigh, Zoro starts to explain the sabotage of the temple atop the hill, the two brothers dead within the collapsed building, not surprised when he’s met with hesitation from the doctor.

“Are you sure?” The doctor asks, looking toward a window in the back, where the stairs to the Temple are visible, “We could try searching the wreckage. They might need help.”

“Do as you please, although it’s pointless. As far as I’m concerned, your only job is to make sure this man doesn’t die.” Zoro’s voice is commanding, walking away from the two of them and straight out the door. He can’t stay for too long, especially with two new souls to guide. The doctor does not bother to watch him go, turning quickly to Luffy. Something about the way the stranger spoke, perhaps, or maybe the way he carried himself... The doctor is compelled to believe Zoro on Ace and Sabo’s fate.

Zoro walks back to his temple, fading himself out of existence and through a portal that leads him back home—which is, unfortunately, the Afterlife.

He steps in onto a cloud to walk toward the large temple he occupied up here, where most of the dead know they can visit if they have any troubles. The ones not being punished, anyhow. Zoro’s throne room is relatively small, his “throne” nothing more than a wood chair with symbols carved into it, red cushions on the seat and the backrest. The entire place is also crumbling, as though abandoned. Plants grow through cracks on the floor, and vines weave their way up the walls and through the windows. Some of the ceiling is in pieces on the floor, that being just the half of it. Many rooms themselves are just collapsed in, waiting to be broken off.

Zoro walks inside, seeing two familiar priests waiting for him.

“You!” Ace marches up to the Death God without a second thought. He’s already dead, after all. “Where were you? Is Luffy alright? Did you help him?”

“Calm down.” Zoro raises a hand to silence them, wanting to rest but instead getting a shrill older brother. “I’ve helped him, I got him out and took him to the doctors. He has my cloak, so I can’t lose track of him.”

“He’s going to live, right?” Sabo continues, following Zoro when he pushes past them, ignoring the irritation in the lines of his face, “it worked, right?! Us sacrificing ourselves?”

“If your town doctor’s any good, sure,” Zoro says, walking towards his throne, “I don’t have any ability to heal. The best I could do was take him from the temple and to the doctor, which I did. I heard your sacrifice just fine. He should live.”

“Is there any way we can see him?” Sabo continues. Zoro doesn’t reply at first, busy unclasping armor. The armor is heavy and sort of annoying, but when he uses a statue to appear on Earth, he ends up wearing a copy of its clothing. Taking it off leaves him in a loose white shirt, haramaki, and black pants.

“I guess,” Zoro says. He stands, stretching himself out until his back cracks. He groans, rubbing the back of his neck, and then looking to Ace and Sabo, “Come with me.”

Ace and Sabo follow diligently, taking in their surroundings. This temple is quiet and pleasantly warm. Even falling apart, it’s clear how nice of a place this temple once was. It’s nicer than most human houses, even if Ace and Sabo have to watch their step for broken tiles or ceiling pieces on the floor, vines they could trip over... there's a lot to look out for, actually.

“Sure is luxurious... in its... own weird way,” Ace mutters.

“You should see the other temples,” Zoro says “The other Gods get a lot nicer places since they’ve actually got followers. I’m sure this one’s going to change soon, even, once the effects of your deaths hit it. Maybe the west wing will finally fuckin’ fall off.”

He leads Ace and Sabo to a room in the back, where what appears to be a bird bath sits in the center. However, upon walking closer, Ace and Sabo find the water is black. Not only is it impossible to see the bottom of the shallow basin, but there’s no reflection on the surface. Whatever the basin contains has not even a slight sheen, as though it sucks up light.

“Tell it what you’d like to see and it will show you. I use it to keep tabs on the Gods and the mortal world. I’m sure you could do the same,” Zoro explains, “But be careful. If you ask to see a God, they’ll be able to sense you watching them.”

Ace shoves to the front of the pack, bracing his hands on either side of the bird bath.

"Show me Luffy!" He demands. The water swirls and changes colors slowly, the background forming first, then Luffy's sleeping form. He's got bandages on his hands, and he looks to be in less pain than he was before.

“This is yours to use as much as you’d like,” Zoro says, “And whenever you’re ready, I can show you to the Afterlife.”

"The Afterlife?" Sabo turns to Zoro, "...Right, you have to take us to that. We can't just stay up here?"

“You can,” Zoro says, “Souls are free to visit up here, but generally should stay in the Afterlife. As my priests, though, I’ll allow you to roam my temple... I suppose. Don’t get too comfortable.”

"It looks like he probably won't be waking up for a while." Ace speaks up, looking at Sabo. He steps away from the bath, the image fading back into black water. "We seriously get a full ride here?"

“You do,” Zoro says, “You spent your whole life tending to the God of death. Didn’t you think you’d get some perks? You’re my first Priests to actually die, too. Most of ‘em just kind of abandon me.”

"No offense, but I can’t blame them. For a while, it was like we were worshipping and tending to air." Sabo crosses his arms, frowning. "At least you answered when we needed you."

“It’s not like I had any gift I could give you to show I was listening,” Zoro grins as he continues, “Nami can gift her followers with wealth, Usopp can gift his with bravery, Chopper makes gifted doctors like the one treating your brother. What could death and violence have given you? Nothing you’d want, I imagine.”

"Well, we got it anyway!" Ace jokes, looking at his hands, trying to spot differences. He abruptly shoves his hand at Sabo, ending up smacking him in the face.

"Tell you what, being dead doesn't feel much different than being alive!" Ace laughs, ignoring the way Sabo grips his wrist in a way that would’ve broken it if they were alive.

“I wouldn’t know,” Zoro says, leaning on his arm, watching the basin. “Lucky for you that you died young. You get to be youthful for eternity. Not so lucky for everyone else, though. Luffy, notably. And me, I guess, now that I’m stuck with you.”

Ace pauses at that, his good mood quickly souring as he considers the consequences of their actions.

"...Ah, shit. We left Luffy alone down there." He rubs the back of his neck. The plan was okay in the moment, but now Luffy's going to wake up to nobody with him, lost.

“You did, and I doubt he’ll appreciate that. It’s not you he’ll be upset with, though.”

Sabo takes in Zoro’s words, piecing them together. “You think he’s going to be mad at you?”

“Of course. I just took his two older brothers from him. I’ve known the three of you just as long as you’ve known me. I know he hates being alone, and death just took all he had,” Zoro doesn’t look too excited about this, locking eyes with Sabo as he speaks, “Do you know why I don’t ever seem to answer prayers?”

"Because people don't believe in you?" Ace guesses, "Or hate you?"

“No. Second one’s close, though,” Zoro gestures his hand towards Ace and Sabo, the room filling with screaming as he moves. Both of them can hear dozens of voices. Some are angry, others devastated. Screaming and whispering, demanding and pleading, all saying the same thing: they want someone they loved back. It's horrible to listen to, hundreds of voices screaming in the same sort of agony worse than even the pain of dying with which Ace and Sabo are now so intimately familiar. The voices stop with another movement from Zoro.

“No one prays to me because they want to. They do when feel they need to. People hate me because I take without giving and am unrelenting in my work. But humans must die. I can’t save everyone or bring everyone back.”

“But that’s… just your job, isn’t it?” Ace points out, “Shouldn’t they accept it?”

Sabo looks to the bird bath once more, his heart sinking to his stomach. They shouldn’t have left Luffy down there, shouldn’t have left him become one of those voices.

“It doesn’t matter. When humans are hurting, they want something to blame,” Zoro says, “I’ve been doing this a long time. It won’t change any time soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if I lost my last priest to grief. Would sure be ironic, though.”

"Your last priest?" Sabo turns back, eyes widened with surprise, Ace leveling him with a similar look

"Wait, we were the last temple for you? Knew you were unpopular, but..."

“That was the last one in use. Like I said, most priests abandon me before they can die. There’s a number of them left standing and empty, but none other with priests. Luffy is now all I have,” Zoro drops his gaze, staring at the basin.

"You have until he wakes up, if he abandons you," Ace says, "He doesn't even have a temple or a home anymore.”

“No, he doesn’t,” Zoro murmurs, “And that’s on me.”

Luffy snores softly in the image of the dark liquid, unaware, almost blissful in the way he sleeps. It claws at Zoro in a way he hasn’t felt in a long time, a certain feeling that he usually only gets with having to deal with the deaths of young children or wrongly murdered. That feeling of unfairness, of the harshness of a reality he created.

“He may as well just be the most unlucky mortal in the entire world.”

* * *

 The first thing that Luffy registers when he comes to is the sound of rustling. Metal tools clanking together, soft discussions about sickness and illness--things that wouldn’t be present in his shared bedroom with Ace and Sabo. Foreign sounds that clearly set off that this is NOT his home in the glorified storage room of his home, and something is wrong.

And then there's pain. The dull, warm ache in his hands and in his chest, a stark reminder of what happened the night before. The temple had burnt down and he's supposed to be dead.

Luffy flies up into a sitting position, head whipping around to look at his surroundings. He’s at the hospital. Ace and Sabo must have got help, just like they said! Hopefully they’re in better shape than he is, though.

Luffy moves to get up, and an old blanket falls off of him onto the floor. When he climbs out of bed and picks it up, he realizes it’s a cloak. He throws it around his shoulders before walking towards the door. He wants to find Ace and Sabo, if he can. He leans against various objects for support as he moves, and when he approaches the door he begins to hear a conversation between two people.  
  
“—found nothing? The temple was stone, surely there had to be something left.”

“Barely a pebble. We looked everywhere, hoping to find their remains, but there isn’t anything left except that statue.”

"Whose remains?" Luffy speaks up, leaning on the door frame. He stares at them, holding tightly. "Who?"

“Luffy, you’re hurt. You should be resting in bed, not walking around,” The doctor says, buying a few seconds before he has to answer the question, “Though you were rescued in the fire, your brothers weren’t so lucky. Both of them were killed.”

Luffy’s eyes widen in shock a moment. His head slowly starts to shake, denying the claims.

"No! No, they said they were getting help! Since I'm here, that means they--they got help! They shouldn't be dead! They're not!"

“They’re dead,” The other man says, “There’s nothing left of that temple. The only help your brothers received is a hand from your God to end their suffering after burning to death.”

"No!" Luffy denies, "I'm--I'm dreaming. Zoro would save them, he wouldn't take them!"

“Zoro is the God of death. Why would he stop people from dying? He’s cruel. He doesn’t save anyone. He took your brothers like he takes everyone else,” The man says, but the doctor seems to be thinking.

"I'm going to the temple!" Luffy exclaims, "You'll see--my brothers will be there! You didn't look hard enough!"

“Go, then. See your temple. Face the God you’ve spent so much of your time worshiping,” The man scoffs as Luffy stumbles off in the direction of his home.

Luffy’s temple is located on the top of a hill off to the edge of town. No one likes to be anywhere near it, yet its shadow stretched across the town every afternoon as the sun set. Something symbolic could be said about it’s far reaching shadow at the end of the sun’s life each day, or on the fact it’s shadow did not touch Luffy now, but Luffy didn’t really care. He climbed up the steps to the temple as fast as he could, pulling himself up a handrail. His brothers _can't_ be dead, they were just going to look for help!

His foot catches on a step as he reaches the top, throwing him to the ground. When he looks up to see his home, he finds no temple. It’s just like the man had said: a patch of ash, hinting nothing of the building razed with his family inside. There’s nowhere to look. Everything is gone. All that stands is one statue, right outside where the door once was, as though Zoro had saved himself and nothing else.

"Ace!?" Luffy yells into nothing, pushing himself onto his knees. "Sabo!"

He stands, shaking, walking toward the ashen statue out front. How the hell did it get out? Looking at the statue closer, Luffy sees it’s changed. It seems more life-sized, and the arms are no longer crossed but instead held as though carrying something. Luffy moves to its side, grabbing onto its arms as though searching for the comfort of a familiar touch. Instead he finds the same cool marble it’s always been, and he feels devastated. Everything really is gone. This statue is here, and Zoro... well, Zoro was here. Zoro finally appeared at the temple, and he took two of his priests. He took Luffy’s brothers. Luffy slams his fist into the statue’s chest, and the chest plate above Zoro’s heart chips just a bit.

"You did this!" Luffy exclaims, banging his fists on the statue over and over again, "You--Give them back to me! Give them back, you bastard! I've been in this temple my whole life for you, give my brothers back!"

Luffy slams his fists into the statue until they bleed, injuries opening again with a vengeance. He doesn’t care. His hands don’t hurt anywhere near as much as the aching in his chest, a terrible chasm opening up inside him where everything he once was has been torn away from him. He turns his head into the chest of the statue, sobbing into the stone, as though unsure whether to cry or to scream. As much as he hates Zoro in this moment, Zoro is still all he has.

Zoro can feel Luffy cursing his name up in his temple, resisting a sigh. He knew it was bound to happen, leaving him alone like that. He almost thinks it hurts, to have his last priest despising him. To have him feel like Zoro's taken everything--and Zoro has.

“After all of this, you still won’t answer me!?” Luffy yells. Under his fist the statue begins to crack, spreading across the chest plate. “I spent my whole life on you, defending you! You could at least answer me after taking it all away!”

Luffy reels his fist back once more to hit the statue again, but his fist is caught.

"I'm doing my job," Zoro answers, looking down at the scorned human, his form occupying from the statue again. His armor cracked where Luffy has broken it. "I understand you're upset. Most are."

Luffy stares in shock a second, and Zoro lets go of his fist. He pulls back, standing in front of Zoro instead of leaning against him, though without support his legs wobble. From his hands and eyes spring wells of blood and tears. It’s not a state befitting of meeting with any God but death.

"Give them back." Luffy whispers, voice breaking as he repeats it over and over, louder each time. He raises a fist again, the movement caught by Zoro once again. Zoro doesn’t let go this time, knowing Luffy will only hurt himself if freed. "Give them back! Let me hit you and give me my brothers back!"

“I can’t,” Zoro says, “You know that I can’t. I don’t have the power to raise the dead. You can scream all you’d like, it won’t help you. They’ve made peace with their deaths, now it’s time for you to do the same.”

" _I_ can't!" Luffy insists, "I was supposed to die back there, not them! Why did Zoro save me when he could've saved them?!"

“They realized they were about to die, so in their last moments before the temple ceiling crushed them they offered themselves to me in exchange for your life,” Zoro says, “They made themselves sacrifices.”

"The first offering Zoro gets in years, and its my brothers." Luffy hisses, wrestling against his hold. He glares up at Zoro, pissed. "Then take me to Chopper!"

“To Chopper? You want— Luffy, I’m not doing that,” Zoro says, “You’re so badly injured, you’ll die long before we get there.”

"I don't _care_ if I die," Luffy insists, "You took my brothers, so take some responsibility. Take me to Chopper and revive them."

Zoro frowns. While it’s true that with Chopper’s help he could bring them back...

“Chopper—when living among humans—spends his time weeks away on a dangerous mountain. If you survive the time traveling to the base, the climb up the mountain will take another day if you’re lucky. You’ll die and waste your brothers’ sacrifices,” Zoro says, “And then the process of bringing people back is risky. If done improperly, your brothers’ souls will be destroyed.”

"I have to try!" Luffy insists, "I'm going to save them, I don't care if you help me get there or not. I have to bring my brothers back. I'll get Chopper to revive them."

“If I don’t help you, you’ll die for sure,” Zoro sighs. Luffy is the only priest he has left. Zoro knows what Luffy really wants is to not be alone. If nothing else, Zoro can help him with that. “I’ll help you.”

“...You will?” Luffy asks, seeming a bit surprised. “You’ll take me to Chopper?"

“I will.” Zoro feels a little underhanded doing this, but without a priest, his powers considerably lessened and his temple becomes less of a home but more of a glorified pile of garbage.

"...Yeah, you better!" Luffy shoves him slightly, filled with more confidence at Zoro’s agreement. "You're responsible."

Zoro doesn’t seem to be affected by Luffy’s accusations. He’s heard it all before. There’s nothing Luffy could say that could hurt him now.

“I have conditions, though,” Zoro says, “I’ll take you back to the hospital and you’ll rest a while first. You’re in no state to be making any journeys. You also can’t tell anyone who I am.”

"I don't think anyone would care.”

“Maybe not, but I’d still rather you not do it,” Zoro messes with his armor from the statue, clearly not happy with the look, “Come on. I can help you down to the doctor.”

"I don't need your help." Luffy grumbles, stumbling away from him on shaking legs.

“You look like you’re about to collapse,” Zoro notes. He doesn’t help, just following Luffy to the stairs.

"Yeah, so?" Luffy holds onto the top of the railing, glaring back at Zoro.

“So, you won’t make it to Chopper if you fall down the stairs and die,” Zoro says.

"I won't fall!"

Luffy takes one step, slipping almost immediately right onto his ass. He pretends it never happened, pulling himself back up with a rough movement and starting back down the stairs.

Zoro snickers, following Luffy the entire way back into town, not helping once at the insistence of Luffy himself, who’s hellbent on doing this alone.

"It's you!" The doctor looks a bit shocked when Zoro approaches behind Luffy, who begrudgngly heads back to his bed. "You brought back Luffy again. Good, he really shouldn't be up and about..."

“Yeah, I know,” Zoro says, “That’s why we’re here.”

“You recognize him?” Luffy questions, frowning at Zoro.

"He's the one who brought you here," The doctor says, "Just told me to take care of you."

Luffy considers Zoro a second but says nothing. Zoro pretends not to notice.

“I’m an old family friend.” Zoro lies through his teeth easily, years of practice. His brother is also the God of Storytelling, which helps. “Once Luffy is feeling better, we’re going to look for some of his cousins to stay with, since... you know. And if possible, we’d like to leave sooner rather than later.”

"Right." The doctor nods, "I understand. He should be fit to travel in a couple of days if he rests enough."

Zoro turns to leave, offering a thanks to the doctor, giving Luffy the information that they’d be leaving once he’s got enough supplies and Luffy’s feeling more himself.

Luffy watches Zoro’s back as he heads out of the room, then tugs the cloak around himself. It smells of smoke and something metallic, though Luffy doesn’t think too hard on why that might be. He doesn’t know what to think of Zoro right now. Zoro is both nothing and everything he expected. He’s a cold God, uncaring in the face of a man in mourning, but also gentle enough to leave Luffy with a silent parting gift and help him on what would otherwise be a suicide mission. Luffy doesn’t know what to think of Zoro anymore, but he’ll find out soon enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lew: yeah this starts out sad BUT it gets more fun than this. i promise. also fun fact it took us seven incredibly distracted hours to think of a title/summary. im exposing us so you all get to know how fuckin stupid we are


	2. Plants and Stories, Earth and Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy and Zoro begin their quest to reach Chopper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lew: this is posted late bc. busy. i meant to post this earlier but i did not have any free time. anyway shout out to my friend jess for editing (probs instead of doing work for her fancy internship. love her procrastination). also, again, this is written w tumblr/twitter user baratiepromise (maddie), who i love

The hospital is the worst place in the world for Luffy. He can't move, only sit and stare. With nothing to occupy himself, all he can do is think and remember. He avoids the memory of the fire, but it still comes back to him. The moment he remembers most clearly now is the moment he's since realized was his brothers' last: when the ceiling fell after they'd been separated. Sabo had said they were getting help, and… technically, he wasn't lying. Zoro  _is_  help, but he'd rather have his family. He feels like they're watching over him, but just watching him isn't enough. He wants them back. He's so lonely without them, even if Zoro is here, because Zoro is… well… awkward.

Luffy mostly just tolerates his presence. Having the God he once revered with him after losing everything to said God isn't comfortable, though it's better than being by himself.  _Marginally_. Zoro's also out of practice interacting with others, and generally just allows him some space. Luffy and Zoro really only coexist as Luffy recovers.

Zoro spends time both in town and back in Afterlife, keeping tabs on his varied duties between visits to Luffy. Townspeople think Zoro strange, usually ignoring him. Those who associate with death's priests are best avoided. Zoro tries blending in anyway, dressing more casually and keeping out of sight of the villagers. When he isn't in the hospital silently keeping Luffy company, he tries preparing for the journey. Luffy needs all new clothes with his having burned, as well as other supplies Luffy requests. He also attempts gathering food for Luffy, but he's not really sure what to bring or how much. He doesn't know how much humans eat given that he doesn't have to, and never bothered to learn how to cook as Sanji would probably curse all his food to taste terrible.

After a week, Zoro stops by Luffy's hospital bed again. He's sitting with his legs hanging off the edge, eyes gazing out the window in the direction of his former temple. Zoro is pretty sure leaving will be good for Luffy, since he won't have to see that empty spot on the horizon.

"Ready to go?" Zoro says. It's not actually a question. He's carrying a backpack, which he drops at Luffy's feet.

"We're leaving now?" Luffy looks down at the backpack, picking it up off the floor. He considers it for a moment, considers the factors that go into leaving home, then tightens his grip at the thought of his brothers, floating around in the Afterlife. "...Yeah. Let's get going."

Zoro nods once, then turns to lead Luffy.

"We'll stop at a few towns along the way," Zoro says, "Humans aren't able to handle such a long walk."

"Why can't you just fly us to the temple?" Luffy grouches, slinging the backpack onto his shoulders and following after Zoro. He's dressed in shorts and a vest, which is open to let the air cool him off. Even though he's trying to cool down, he still wears the cloak around his shoulders. "Gods can fly."

"I don't like to," Zoro says, "I never fly. I haven't since... the Earth was created, honestly. I doubt I even remember how."

"Oh." Luffy frowns, "Can you make a portal?"

"I don't know that a living human can pass through a portal," Zoro admits, "And if you die because human bodies aren't meant to handle bending through space, I won't ever hear the end of it from your brothers."

"My brothers?" Luffy quickly catches up with Zoro, running in front of him to walk backwards, "You've talked to them?"

"Yeah, of course," Zoro says, "I'm able to speak to all the dead. Especially when the dead wait for me in my throne room to interrogate me about their little brother as soon as I return from saving his ass."

"So you're keeping them safe?" Luffy asks, looking a bit more happy now. "How are they?"

"Worried about you," Zoro says, honest, "They don't think you should be risking yourself like this with your still-healing injuries."

"I don't care what they think!" Luffy snorts, turning his nose up at their opinion. "I'm getting them back. I can walk, so it's fine."

"If you say so," Zoro says, "At least I've got an excuse to be out of the house. My temple was starting to get a little cramped."

"Why don't you just visit Earth more often?" Luffy asks, picking a stick off the ground to wave it as they walk. "It's not like it hurts."

"Earth doesn't like me much," Zoro says. He steps off the gravel path a moment and stands in the grass. Luffy watches as, just from Zoro's presence, the flowers and grass begin to wilt and die. He steps back onto the gravel, the patch he was just in spreading out to the ground around it, killing a whole chunk of land. Luffy blinks.

"Hey, if you touch me, will I die?" Luffy asks.

"When I carried you out of the temple, did you die? What about when I caught your fist when you tried to hit me?" Zoro says, "Though I could kill you the same way as I killed the grass, just being near me or touching me won't kill you."

"Oh, right!" Luffy laughs, "That makes things easier. So, do you poop?"

"What?" Zoro asks. To have so little tact as to ask such a question of a God is… about what Zoro expects from Luffy, honestly. "...If I eat."

"Really?!" Luffy exclaims, "Wow, I guess you Gods aren't that different from us after all!"

"Don't sound so excited," Zoro grumbles, folding his arms.

"It's interesting." Luffy hums, waving the stick some more as he kicks up the loose gravel, pieces lodging into his sandals. "What else can I ask… Oh yeah, do you send bad people to a different afterlife?"

"Afterlife is one place, but different people are handled differently," Zoro says "Those who are evil end up punished, and those who are kind end up rewarded. Priests like yourself and your brothers get a bit of special treatment, too. Like me intervening to save your life, and your brothers spending Afterlife in my temple."

"That's nice, but they won't have to!" Luffy grins, hopping. "Cuz they're gonna live a long, long time after this!"

"Whatever you say," Zoro says. He's honestly amused, watching Luffy flail and hop around. At least he knows Luffy is feeling somewhat better, both physically and emotionally, if he's got the energy to be doing all this.

"Is Chopper nice?" Luffy prods, continuing to talk as he walks ahead of Zoro, hitting a nearby tree with his stick.

"He is. He and I were always close, funnily enough," Zoro says.

"Really?" Luffy grins, hesitating to let Zoro catch up so he could listen to the story, "I knew the Gods accepted you! Nobody ever believed me about that."

"Accepted me?" Zoro says. He wouldn't really go that far... "They... It's not really that simple, Luffy."

"But you just said you and Chopper were close!" Luffy says.

"Yeah. We were. Back when Earth was new, and I had no titles," Zoro says, "Back before everything."

"Oh." Luffy frowns, shoulders slumping at being proven wrong. "So, will he still let you revive my brothers?"

"He will," Zoro says, "I told you, he's kind. They all are. If I asked any of them for help with anything, they'd likely help me. Even something like this."

"...If they're all kind, why don't you like being friends with them?" Luffy asks.

"It's complicated," Zoro says. His voice is heavier now than it was before, laced with frustration, "They threw me out without hesitation. Just because they feel bad about it now doesn't mean I've forgotten the decades where none of them wanted anything to do with me."

"That was because you killed Merry, right?" Luffy says.

"Don't," Zoro snaps. His irritability turns to fury in an instant, and it surprises Luffy enough to make him stop walking. Zoro catches up to him, then stops beside him. "Don't say that name."

"Sorry!" Luffy protests, "Just… I dunno what to talk to Zoro about."

"Then let's not talk," Zoro says. He passes Luffy, pointedly ignoring him.

Luffy complies, walking in silence, not liking how this was playing out. He wanted his brothers back, but now he has to put up with Zoro being like this…

Zoro is reminded why he dislikes dealing with humans. Though he has no problems with Luffy, Luffy is still just as human as everyone else, and for all humans Zoro's interaction with Merry defines his entire existence. He doesn't want to talk about it. It's all humans care about.

* * *

Zoro continues ignoring Luffy for the next two days, resolving to do so until they reach the next town. While this isn't a long time for him, it is for Luffy. Zoro could walk for weeks without getting tired or needing breaks, but forgets Luffy can't. Luffy's slept poorly since the temple burned down, and he's injured. Zoro refusing to answer him or look back to see how he's doing, combined with his own stubborn determination to see Ace and Sabo again, means they don't sleep when it gets dark and they don't stop so Luffy can find food, eat what he has, or take breaks. The most he can do is snack on things which are edible along the way, like berries off of bushes, but it's not enough. After 48 straight hours like this, Luffy reaches his limit.

Exhausted and starving, Luffy abruptly passes out on the side of the path.

Zoro hears the thump behind him of Luffy's body collapsing, continuing to walk forwards, figuring he just tripped on a rock or something. Humans are clumsy like that. Minutes pass and Zoro hears no footsteps behind him. He senses some angry glares from two priests stuck in his temple. Did he do something wrong...?

Zoro turns around, ready to scold Luffy for being slow, and freezes when he sees Luffy on the ground, not moving.

"Shit."

Zoro rushes immediately to Luffy's side. He's out cold, and when Zoro shakes him, he doesn't wake up. Luckily for Luffy, they're only a few minutes from the next town, so Zoro picks Luffy up.

"Come on," Zoro mumbles. He stands with Luffy in his arms and hurries to the next town's temple. Zoro can almost hear Luffy's brothers cursing him out as he rushes.

"Give me a break!" He says into the air, "I thought he'd be fine!"

Zoro can see very clearly how wrong he was, though. Luffy is only human, and he can't make the same journeys Zoro can. If Zoro wants this quest to succeed, he has to pay attention to Luffy's needs. He has to do better.

* * *

When Zoro reaches the town, he finds the place overrun with plant life. The town's paths are all dirt paved, wildflowers hugging the sides. Vines crawl up the sides of most buildings, and everything is bursting with growth, from flower pot to field. Zoro finds the source of this town's agricultural success when he reaches its temple: a stunning monument to Usopp. It's more impressive than Luffy's temple was, but fairly standard for such a blessed farming town. The temple is clean and populated, and exactly where Zoro wants to go. He can find someone to help Luffy here. The temple, Usopp's statue, and the railings all share similar a fate to the town around them, flowers blooming where they usually wouldn't. In any other situation, he's sure he'd be slightly impressed at the following Usopp has gathered for himself, but there's no time for that.

"Hey!" He calls into the temple, "Someone get out here and help me!"

No one answers, and Zoro frowns. If he goes inside, Usopp is going to know he's there. Gods are often able to tell when other Gods enter their temples, and Zoro really doesn't want to deal with that…

Zoro looks down at Luffy in his arms, then sighs. He steps inside, looking for whoever runs it. He ignores the wilting of flowers woven around the railings of the temple as soon as he steps in, trying to supress the power he naturally emits. He wanders a moment, coming to find a blonde woman dressed in a white dress kneeling at an altar. She looks up hearing Zoro walk in, almost shocked.

"Hello. My name is Kaya, I lead this temple," She says, standing. "Forgive me, I didn't know we had a patient! What's happened?"

"My friend passed out," Zoro says, "We've been walking for the past two days, and we haven't really slept or eaten. I guess it got to him."

"Of course it got to him!" Kaya looks shocked, walking up to Zoro and Luffy. "Come, we have some beds."

She leads them to the back of the temple, opening an unused room for visitors. A bed sits, clovers bursting through the wood.

"We haven't cleaned up much here, but it should be alright," She says. Zoro nods. He could easily get rid of the clovers in the bed, but he doesn't think Kaya would appreciate it. He lies Luffy down in the bed, then sits on the ground beside him.

"He'll be fine?" Zoro says, looking to Kaya.

"Well, he needs rest and food," Kaya says, checking over Luffy, "I'll start getting something for him to eat. He's got some pretty nasty burns, too..."

"He was caught in a fire recently," Zoro says, "Is there any issue with those?"

"No, no issue, but you should probably be changing these bandages more." Kaya says, "I'll go start on getting some food for him, okay?"

"Got it," Zoro says. He watches her leave, then stands and turns to look at Luffy. He doesn't look happy as he sleeps. Since Zoro arrived, Luffy has slept with a heavy frown on his face. Zoro can imagine what he must being dreaming of. They probably should have waited longer to leave, and Zoro shouldn't have been such an ass... Luffy has nothing. He's looking to Zoro to watch out for him right now, and Zoro couldn't make it to a single town without letting him down. No wonder Zoro has no priests left. Zoro leans forward, holding his head in his hands. Dammit. Humans are so fucking difficult to interact with-why did he agree to this?!

"You having some trouble there, bud?" A male voice teases, making Zoro turn toward him. "It's been a while."

"Usopp," Zoro says. It was only a matter of time before Usopp noticed he was here. "Sure has. Nice place you've got."

"I know. They take care of the temple well." Usopp plucks a flower from his hair, handing it to Zoro. "...It's been hundreds of years."

"It has," Zoro says, taking it. He twists it between his fingers, and it's dead before it's made a full turn. "Sorry. Flowers aren't really my thing."

"...Yeah, you haven't changed." Usopp observes as the flower falls out of Zoro's hand, landing lifeless on the floor. "So, what's going on? You've got this human with you."

"This is Luffy. He's my priest," Zoro says, leaning against Luffy's bed, "He wanted me to take him somewhere, and since I owe him a favor, I agreed. Except I forgot humans need things like food and rest and he ended up fainting from exhaustion."

"How do you forget that?" Usopp laughs loudly, "Don't you get humans who die of starvation all the time?"

"Yeah, yeah. I just forgot it happened so damn fast," Zoro says. Many of the clovers near him on Luffy's bed start to die, minus those touching Luffy.

"You should be more careful with humans. They already hate you a lot, you know." Usopp points out.

"Thanks for reminding me," Zoro says, "And who's fault was that again, that they don't like me?"

"Hey, don't blame me!" Usopp raises his hands, sitting on Luffy's bed and making more clovers bloom as he sits.

"But it was you. You and the other Gods, because you didn't want to believe me," Zoro says, "You convinced the first humans to hate me over something that wasn't true."

"I didn't… I was..." Usopp looks down, "I was closest to Merry."

"I remember," Zoro says. He stares ahead of him, at the wall. He couldn't name even a single of the many flowers growing out of the stone, a testament to just how out of touch he is with the other Gods and their work. "I was close to her, too."

"But not like-not like… Nevermind." Usopp sighs, rubbing his hands together. "So, the deal with the human?"

"Luffy is just resting right now," Zoro says. He doesn't think he should tell Usopp that they're going to be bringing Ace and Sabo back from the dead. "When he wakes up I'll get him something to eat. We'll be out of here before you know it."

"I'm not asking you to leave." Usopp says, "It's just… I've missed you, Zoro. We all have."

Zoro's silent a moment. He'd be lying if he said he didn't miss the others right back, but he'd sooner cut his tongue than admit it. After centuries on his own, Zoro doesn't really do emotional vulnerability.

"I—" Zoro starts, but behind him, Luffy groans. Immediately Zoro turns his attention to Luffy, looking for a way to avoid the conversation he really should be having. Usopp turns as well, watching the human stir and open his eyes.

"Zoro?" Luffy questions, cracking his eyes open, "Ugh, I'm hungry..."

"I guessed as much, what with you passing out back there and all," Zoro says, "Sorry for not noticing sooner."

"I passed out?" Luffy rubs his eye as Zoro comes into focus, and then a stranger. "Zoro made a friend!?"

"This is Usopp," Zoro says. Luffy sits up, and when he does, Zoro flicks his forehead, "And don't sound so surprised!"

"I'm shocked!" Luffy grins, turning a bit to look at Usopp. "Hi, Usopp! Um… Usopp like the God, or Usopp named after the God?"

"Usopp the God," Zoro fills in, before Usopp can.

"But if anyone in the temple asks, call me Sogeking," Usopp stage whispers to the both of them. It's not uncommon for other the Gods to visit their followers posing as normal mortals, after all.

"Sogeking..." Luffy repeats, "Okay! I'm Luffy, I'm gonna go revive my brothers. Is this your temple?"

Zoro sighs. So much for not telling.

"Yeah, it's— Wait, you're going to do what?" Usopp asks.

"I'm gonna go revive my brothers! We're gonna go see Chopper and revive them," Luffy fills in happily.

"Zoro, you're bringing back the dead?" Usopp demands, turning to Zoro.

"I'm not bringing back the dead," Zoro says, looking away from Usopp, "Chopper is."

"That's not any better," Usopp says.

"I owe it to him to try." Zoro shrugs a shoulder, like raising the dead isn't a big deal. "They were my priests, and their temple lit on fire. The other two died as sacrifices."

"Sacrifices? To what?" Usopp asks, before realizing, "...Oh."

"Yeah." Zoro scoffs, "Sacrifices to me. They wanted to save Luffy, and now Luffy wants to save them."

"I'm going to save them!" Luffy says.

"We  _might_  save them," Zoro corrects, "There's no guarantee this will work."

"You shouldn't be trying." Usopp frowns.

"...I owe it to him," Zoro says again, "He's my last priest."

"I am?" Luffy asks, turning to face Zoro. Usopp looks surprised, too. "Since when?"

"You didn't know?" Zoro faces Luffy. "Your temple was my last active one."

"I didn't! What's going to happen now that Zoro doesn't have any active temples?" Luffy asks.

"He's going to lose control over his powers," Usopp says. As he talks, Zoro gets up and walks over to the other side of the small room. In front of him is a wall absolutely covered in clovers. He regards it absently. A few of the clovers die as he stares at them for too long. "A lot of our power comes from human worshippers. Though we can survive without them, not having them is..."

"Everything dies easier now, is all." Zoro brushes it off. He places his hand on the wall, and all the clovers growing through it die immediately. Luffy looks over to the wall, visibly distraught. It doesn't make Zoro feel any better.

"What about your temple in the Afterlife?" Usopp asks, referring to Zoro's home. Though the rest of them live on temples on Skypiea, Zoro built his own elsewhere. Even if Zoro's temple isn't with the others, however, all of their temples' upkeep reflects what their real temples look like. If Zoro has no orderly temples and only one priest, then…

"Small." Zoro answers, watching clover pieces fall to the floor. "Crumbling. That's what happens when the human population curses your name."

He takes his hand off the wall, the wood starting to rot where he left it there for too long. After all, death is followed quickly by decay. He shakes his hand like it was burnt, then goes to sit back down.

"Zoro..." Usopp mumbles.

"It's okay, though!" Luffy says, surprising Zoro. "When I get my brothers back, we'll build a new temple, and we'll tell everyone we met Zoro, and how nice he is, and then Zoro will get lots of new priests. I'm not your last."

Zoro regards Luffy with a sympathetic yet doubtful look at the optimism Luffy expresses. It's true he may regain the two priests' lives, but that doesn't mean he'll actually gain their devotion back. They might hate him after this, all things considered. Luffy, however, has made up his mind on this. New goal decided, he continues.

"We'll find an empty temple and use that. Since everyone thinks Ace and Sabo died, we can't go back there anyway. It can be near a big town. Then the three of us will get Zoro lots of new people," Luffy says, "And I know they'll want to help, too, cuz I know they're watching over me for this journey. They'll see everything Zoro did for them and for me."

"Luffy, breaking the laws of nature isn't exactly something I'm  _supposed_  to do." Zoro points out, "That's why Usopp keeps freaking the fuck out. I shouldn't be doing this-and neither should Chopper. We're all going to be in big ass trouble."

"I don't care. I'm bringing them back," Luffy says, "Besides, Zoro'll be in trouble if he  _doesn't_  do it, too, cuz I'm his only priest. And I think the Gods owe HIM one, too."

Usopp frowns at the accusation, crossing his arms but not replying.

"The Gods don't owe me shit." Zoro waves a hand, grumbling at the topic even being brought up. He hates talking about this.

"Sure they do. Zoro said he was upset they threw him out, and..." Luffy trails off. He doesn't really want to go down that route again, given the last time he did, Zoro ignored him for two full days. Zoro crosses his arms, then looks to Usopp. Luffy bringing this up reminds him, he has something important to say.

"...Hey," Zoro says, "Go find that blonde girl. Luffy still hasn't eaten."

"What?" Usopp says. Zoro gives him a pointed look, and Usopp decides when the flowers in his hair start to wilt it would be best if he listened. He leaves the room, and once alone, Zoro looks to the ground.

"I'm... sorry for being such an ass back there. I shouldn't have completely ignored you like that," Zoro says.

"Yeah, that was pretty shitty of you." Luffy smiles at him. He looks tired, but his smile is genuine, "But at least you turned around!"

"Well, yeah. I realized you weren't following me anymore," Zoro says, "I shouldn't have let it get to that point, though."

"That's ok." Luffy forgives Zoro easily, reaching forward to pat his knee. Zoro is all he has now, after all, and Luffy has always been forgiving of friends. "Just gimme some food and we'll call it even."

"Alright," Zoro says, "But let me know when you're tired from now on. We're not going to make it to Chopper like this."

"Zoro has to remember we eat and stuff! Five meals a day!" Luffy shoves Zoro lightly, but immediately lets his arms drop when the raised voice and movement make his head pound. He whines, holding his forehead. Back in the temple, life was sort of cushy and taken care of, so he'd never really had to deal with lack of food headaches.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be better," Zoro says, "What're you whining for?"

"My head hurts," Luffy complains, "Do some God magic that makes me not hungry."

"The only thing I could do to help would be to kill you, in which case you'd never be hungry ever again," Zoro says.

"That doesn't sound fun." Luffy frowns at him, moving forward in the bed to put his chin on Zoro's shoulder, "Don't you get hungry?"

"Not really," Zoro says, "I mean, I crave stuff sometimes, but I don't generally think of food at all."

"I would hate being a God, then," Luffy hums, "Not eating is horrible."

"I can eat, I just don't get any offerings to eat," Zoro says. He laughs a bit, "I doubt you'd have that same issue, though."

"Ah..." Luffy looks a bit guilty when Zoro brings up offerings, "About those..."

"Don't think I didn't notice that you were eating all of them," Zoro says.

"I'm sorry!" Luffy squirms, "They tasted so good, I always left at least one!"

"I don't mind," Zoro laughs, "You need it more than me, clearly. Think of those as a retroactive apology for me nearly letting you die."

Luffy smiles, liking the sound of his laugh. The God of death can have a good attitude after all. There's a knock at the open door, Kaya holding a tray and Usopp behind her.

"How're you feeling?" She asks, setting the tray down between Luffy and Zoro, "I brought food for the both of you, since I figured you're both starving."

"You're lucky you came here. Kaya's a fantastic doctor!" Usopp says, beaming. Luffy looks excited at the food, picking up the bowl and immediately digging in greedily. Zoro smirks as Usopp gushes about Kaya, obviously proud of the head of his temple.

"I'm sure she is," Zoro absentmindedly picks an apple slice she had on the tray, popping it into his mouth. "A bit surprising to have a doctor leading Usopp's temple, though. Thought it'd be some old man farmer or something."

"Recently some temples have been mixing Gods a bit, since most towns only have one temple for the patron God. This is a temple for Usopp, but after a terrible sickness hit the area a few years ago, we dedicated an altar to Chopper," Kaya says, "Since all the Gods but Zoro are so close, they don't seem to mind. It's becoming fairly common."

"All the Gods but Zoro, huh?" Zoro snorts, "Yeah, nobody wants to hang out with that guy."

"I guess not," Kaya says, as Usopp seems to take interest in the clovers blooming on the wall beside him. Luffy snickers a bit.

"Usopp and Chopper are close friends, though," Zoro continues, "I'm sure he enjoys the fact that you've got them sharing a temple."

"I think he does. Everything has been growing well for years," Kaya says, "And the town ended up recovering from their illness, so I think Chopper liked it, too."

"I'm sure he did," Zoro smiles a bit to himself, "Chopper loves to help."

Luffy watches Zoro's expression as he talks. He looks a thousand miles away for a moment, or maybe a thousand years. Luffy wonders if Zoro misses his family as much as Luffy does. If Zoro does, he probably wants to see Chopper again, right? Especially if they were really close! Luffy looks to Kaya, mind made up.

"We're gonna head out once I'm done eating," Luffy decides.

"Are you sure?" Kaya asks, "You should probably rest more! Collapsing from exhaustion like that..."

"You can stay longer..." Usopp says.

"I'm tough!" Luffy says, "We'll be fine. We've got a long way to go still, and there'll be a lot of temples to stop at on the way."

Zoro turns to Luffy, frowning, assuming Luffy just wants to leave to see Ace and Sabo.

"I don't want you collapsing again," He says.

"Then... I'll eat, take a nap, and then we'll head out," Luffy says, "I usually recover from stuff pretty quickly."

"...I'd feel a little better about that, I guess," Zoro says, "Sleep after you eat, then we can leave."

Luffy nods. He's pretty close to being done with his food, anyway, plus he's been stealing food off of Zoro.

"And... Go visit Chopper's altar once I go to bed," Luffy says.

"...No promises," Zoro says, "Continue eating."

Luffy figures that's about as good as he's going to get and diverts his attention entirely to his food, in a fairly good mood with all things considered. Zoro allows Luffy to finish eating, brushing some of the dead clovers off the blankets when Luffy is done. He stands so Luffy can lie down, walking past Usopp and Kaya and out the room.

"Give him privacy." Zoro says, "He needs to sleep."

The three of them leave. Kaya heads down the hall to the main temple, and Zoro watches her go. Exiting the room, Usopp grabs onto Zoro's shoulder.

"...Are you actually going to Chopper's altar?" Usopp asks.

"No. I'll see him soon enough anyway," Zoro says. Honestly, he's been avoiding Chopper for centuries. While he's seen most of the others numerous times since being cast off, and despite how close they used to be, he's gone out of his way to see Chopper as little as possible. Creating Merry was Chopper's idea, after all. Humanity is Chopper's proudest creation, and Zoro's only purpose is to destroy it one by one. It's precisely how close they used to be that makes Zoro unwilling to be in Chopper's company again. He doesn't want to know what Chopper thinks of him now.

"Are you sure? I could call him here-it would be fine! I'm sure he'd love to see you again!" He pushes, and when Zoro starts to walk away, he slumps his shoulders a bit. "Franky keeps asking about you, you know."

"Does he? Give him my regards, then. Give all of them my regards," Zoro says, though he stops walking away. Some familiar humor sneaks back into his head and he adds, "But not the cook, he's still an ass."

"I'll make sure he gets the message." He grins. Even though it hasn't gone as planned, he's glad to see Zoro again. Hundreds of years of radio silence from someone he considered like a brother is almost scary, even if he knew nothing happened to him since people and plants continue to die.

"I appreciate it," Zoro says. He folds his arms, leaning back against the wall and staring ahead of him, through the doorway where he can see the main room of the temple. In the center is a statue, meant to look like Usopp. Its likeness is closer than any of Zoro's statues were, but still far enough off that Usopp is not recognizable. Surrounding the statue are dozens of offerings, which Usopp has earned through helping the food grow around the town. Kaya's in there, currently talking to three boys sitting at the statue's base. It's not the sort of thing Zoro ever sees at any of his temples. Why would he? Zoro sighs.

"I can always count on you, huh? Delivering a message for me."

"Yeah. You can count on me, Zoro," Usopp stresses, "I _want_ you to count on me. Count on us."

Zoro is silent. Usopp is and always has been the God of three things: agriculture, bravery, and telling stories. It's for this reason that people also consider him to be the God of lying. Maybe that's why the olive branch Usopp extends feels unreal to Zoro, even if he wants to accept it. He can't afford to be double crossed by his family again, like he was back when Merry died.

"I would like that," Zoro says, "But I've found I just don't know that I believe it."

Usopp regards Zoro with a bit of worry. Usopp can feel the way Zoro doesn't trust him, doesn't trust his family. Usopp wants to tell him something to cheer him up, tell him that they've forgiven him, talked this over hundreds of times over hundreds of years.

"Zoro, if this… if this fails, you'll have nobody."

"So, nothing new," Zoro says. His tone goes from bittersweet to just bitter, as it's always been easier to be angry than sad. He's the God of violence, after all.

Zoro watches the activity of the temple down the hall to avoid looking at Usopp. His family members have all thrived just fine without him, all the while he's been gradually losing his power. All these years wasting away, and did any of them ever notice? No, they've been just as hesitant to reach out to him as he has to them. Besides, even when he had priests, he never connected to them like the other Gods did. He had no gifts to give, and no idea how to go out and interact with them. So what if he fails? He's got nothing to lose but a few feet off his temple in the Afterlife and some control on his power. He's never on Earth anyway, what does it matter if everything around him dies?

"You aren't the God of Loneliness, you know," Usopp points out, trying to reason with him, convince him to come home, "There-I'm sorry, that you can't get what we have. It's just hard to...romanticize death and violence."

"I know, but I'm sure it would be easier to find followers if the rest of you didn't fucking lie about me," Zoro snaps. All the plants within arm's reach of him immediately die from his anger. "If humans didn't have a fucked up idea of who I am, maybe they'd... they'd care more."

"We realized we were wrong! It's just hard to… change a thousands years old story. It's practically the first story any human hears!" Usopp defends, but his arguments are weak, seeing Zoro hurt like this. Of course it'd hurt, having been hated for so many years. "We shouldn't have kicked you out for those years, but once Robin figured out what happened, we asked for you to come back and you said no!"

"Sorry I wasn't ready to just... walk back in and pretend nothing was wrong like the rest of you. All of you had changed, and I'd missed all of it because because none of you believed me about what happened to Merry and decided instead to just throw me out! But you know, I was mourning her, too. I was mourning her and you and everything else all at once," Zoro says. He looks at Usopp, finally, "And maybe it's a centuries old story, but you're the God of stories. You have power."

"Then what do you want me to do?" Usopp crosses his arms, "Do you want me to present myself to the humans and tell them the story was wrong? That doesn't guarantee that they'd believe me!"

Zoro looks back down the hallway at the temple, leaning his head against the wall. He closes his eyes and sighs, taking a moment to pause.

Zoro has spent centuries on his own. Cast out by his own family, he's spent his time taking thousands of lives. The dead are easy to deal with. They're a face he doesn't know which he'll see once and never again. However, surrounded by all these people, he's been terribly lonely. He doesn't admit it, refuses to even think it to himself, but every time he hears some spirit call out for their family, it hurts him. Zoro carries hundreds of years of injuries on his heart, and for his own protection, he's had to shut it all out. Whenever he's faced with his family wanting to welcome him back, he's... afraid. What if they've changed so much in the time he's been gone that he doesn't know them anymore? What if he goes back and they decide they were better off without him? Zoro doesn't think he could handle being tossed aside again. Having Luffy around—someone who cares to be by his side, even if it's just for his own selfish reason, and even if they're just sort of barely on speaking terms—reminds Zoro how much he misses his family. The dull ache he's carried sheltered in his heart has been brought back in full force, and standing in front of Usopp, he finds himself unable to risk returning, no matter how badly he wants to. He needs some kind of guarantee they won't leave him again. He wants proof they care.

Usopp is the one who spread the lie about Zoro. Zoro knows he didn't do it out of malice—he was mourning Merry, and Usopp comforts himself through stories. All of the Gods wanted someone to blame, and Zoro made a good scapegoat. He doesn't hate them for it. He isn't even sure he's angry. Merry was the first and worst heartbreak they had ever experienced, after all. But Zoro's still hurting from it. He could forgive them if only they'd give him reason to, other than that they miss him. Before he truly puts himself on the line again, to put himself out there at their mercy, he needs reason to believe they won't hurt him again. His family must put themselves on the line, too. If they can give him that, then… Zoro misses them, too. More than he'll ever admit, to himself and especially to his family.

"I don't care what you do," Zoro says, despite everything. He needs this to be Usopp's decision, so he knows it's legitimate. "It's up to you. I'll be gone in a few hours anyway. Then you don't have to worry about me for another century."

Zoro pushes off the wall and walks to return to the back room Luffy is staying in, though he stops in the doorway.

"In case I don't see you on the way out, it was... nice seeing you again, Usopp," Zoro says as he closes the door. "Like I said, give the others my regards. I'm counting on you."

Usopp doesn't respond, not knowing how to get the last word in a situation like this. He sighs, turning away from Zoro to open a portal and leave the temple, leaving a patch of grass where he was standing. If Zoro won't visit the others, he'd just tell them where he is. Tell Chopper that Zoro's on his way.

* * *

Luffy wakes up a few hours later. He can tell Zoro is upset by the fact he's killed most of the plants in the room by pacing around it, but Zoro seems eager to leave so he doesn't get to ask why. Usopp is gone, and Zoro rushes through goodbyes to Kaya. Zoro all but throws Luffy out of the temple when Luffy asks if he visited Chopper's altar.

The walk to the next town almost immediately becomes shrouded in awkward silence, which Luffy decides he needs to break. Luffy wracks his brain for things to talk about. Zoro is still pensive, irritated, so he should tread lightly… Luffy frowns in thought, then turns to Zoro.

"What kinda powers does Zoro get?" Luffy asks, "Besides killing things?"

"Besides killing things? You've basically seen them all..." Zoro says, "I can see exactly how and when a creature will die, but I don't like to do it."

"Really?" Luffy grins, "When am I gonna die?"

"I'm not checking," Zoro says, "Every human who asks me that ends up trying to avoid their death and accidentally causes it."

"Zoro should check that more often." Luffy says, "What else can he do?"

"I don't really have any other outstanding powers," Zoro says, "I can grant the gift of brute strength and victory in a fight, though given how peaceful this place is, it isn't really needed."

"You can?!" Luffy runs in front of Zoro, stopping him and grabbing his wrists, "Give me super strength! I wanna lift a tree."

"Why should I?" Zoro says, teasing.

"Because I want to be even stronger!" Luffy grins, "Just for a little?"

Zoro shrugs. He might as well. What could do wrong?

"Sure, fine. But it isn't really super strength, it's more like... knowing how to throw a punch. It's skill in violence," Zoro says. He puts his hand on Luffy's forehead a moment, and then pulls it away. "Feel any different?"

"Not really," Luffy observes, looking at his hands. He looks at Zoro, then socks Zoro in the jaw.

Zoro stares, shocked, into the distance as luffy had hit him hard enough to turn his head. He processes for a moment what just happened before looking back to Luffy.

"Hey, Luffy?" Zoro says, polite, "What the fuck?"

"Hey, it worked!" Luffy beams, shaking his hand out a bit. "I haven't punched that hard in a while! That felt pretty good."

"I'm glad you've enjoyed it, because I'm taking it away now," Zoro says, reaching out and smacking Luffy's forehead.

"Ow! Hey, Give it back!" Luffy whines, grappling for Zoro's hands. "I still wanted that!"

"I'm not going to let you have it if you're going to hit me!" Zoro says, holding his hands up in the air because he knows Luffy isn't tall enough to reach him. Luffy jumps, trying to reach his hands.

"I'm not gonna hit you, this time I'll hit a tree!"

"You've already lost your chance," Zoro says. He snickers, "You know, I never noticed how short you were till now."

"My body just isn't that big." Luffy crosses his arms and stops jumping, obviously put off by the comment, mumbling. "I can't help it that everyone's taller than me."

"Touchy subject?" Zoro asks, "You'll have to speak up, I can't hear you down there."

"I can still punch Zoro, with or without his help." Luffy frowns.

"Guess I won't bring it up again," Zoro says. He lowers his hands again, then looks around, realizing suddenly he… isn't actually sure where they are. Luffy sees Zoro looking around, so he does the same.

"What's wrong?" He asks, "You see something?"

"Uh..." Zoro says. He picks a certain direction and starts heading off. "No, I don't see anything. Come on."

"Oookay..." Luffy blinks, following him on the path. "...Zoro? Can I ask something again?"

"If it's 'will you give me super strength again?' the answer is no," Zoro says.

"No!" Luffy says, "Are we lost?"

"We aren't lost," Zoro says, "I just haven't been to Earth in a while."

"Oh, okay." Luffy thinks it's fine, following Zoro, "...So, tell me about the other gods!"

"Well, you met Usopp," Zoro says, "And... the others... I don't know. What would you like to know?"

"What do they do?" Luffy asks, "I know some of it, but I mostly learned about you, since I was working as a priest for you. I didn't really pay attention for the others."

"That's a pretty vague question," Zoro says, "They've all got jobs across the Earth, mostly helping humans. All the Gods but me have three things they're the God of, two that are good and one that's bad. I just have two shit ones."

"Tell me about..." Luffy hums, thinking, "Tell me about Brook! He was the first, after all."

"Brook's got music, love, and decay," Zoro says, "He's one of the other Gods I'm more in touch with, since decay follows death pretty closely. I still don't see him all that much, though."

"Music? I love musicians!" Luffy says happily, "Decay sucks, though. Isn't he a skeleton?"

"He is. He's usually got to wear a mask when he visits Earth, otherwise everyone knows who he is," Zoro says.

"He can't disguise himself or anything?" Luffy asks, "Can't grow flesh?"

"Can't grow flesh," Zoro says, "We can't really change what we look like. The only one who can is Chopper."

"That would be useful. Good thing none of the statues really match you guys, huh?" Luffy grins.

"Definitely. Yours was way off, by the way. I'm clearly much more handsome in person," Zoro says.

"We didn't make it!" Luffy defends, "When we got to the temple it was already there."

"Well, whoever made it was wrong," Zoro says. He elbows Luffy a bit, "Though I notice you didn't disagree with me."

"About Zoro being handsome?" Luffy blinks, looking at Zoro for a moment like he's assessing Zoro. "He's okay, I guess."

"Hey!" Zoro says, "I'm more than okay. Humans all over are just dying to get with me."

"Did… Zoro just make a joke about people dying?" Luffy asks, pointing at him.

"Yeah, I mean. That's sort of my thing," Zoro says.

"Joking about people dying...?" Luffy tilts his head.

"No, death is," Zoro says, "It's kind of what I'm known for, remember? I might as well joke about it."

"Zoro's got a weird sense of humor," Luffy mutters.

"It's not that weird," Zoro says, "Or maybe I'm just desensitized."

"I think you might just be desensitized," Luffy says, "My brothers just died."

"...Ah," Zoro says. Probably not his best move. They walk in silence for a bit after that, unsure of what to say. Luffy kicks a rock absently, then looks up.

"Tell me about Robin and Franky?"

"They're like my parents," Zoro hums, "Franky's the God of invention, family, and destruction. Robin's of knowledge, the sky, and fear. I don't really see them that much."

"Were Zoro and the other Gods kids at one point?" Luffy asks, "Or did they all get made looking like that?"

"We were never kids. Not physically, at least," Zoro says, "We all just sort of happened."

"Just kind of… appeared out of thin air?" Luffy asks.

"Yup," Zoro says, "Much easier than how humans do it."

"It's not like we  _asked_  to be made like that." Luffy points out, "You guys are in charge of that stuff, not us. So, Zoro's just looked like that his whole life?"

"Mostly. I have a lot more scars than I started with, though," Zoro says.

"I didn't know Gods could scar." Luffy hums, stopping to see if he could notice any on Zoro's body. Zoro stops as well, offering his arms to Luffy. He's covered in faint scars, hard to see until one looks for them, where they'll suddenly appear in the thousands. Luffy couldn't imagine what they'd all be from, or why someone would attack a God.

"A few of these are from when I used to visit the dying, back when there were very few humans. I thought it might help them if they had a guide," Zoro says, "Creatures don't like to face their deaths. They'll try to kick and scream and claw their way out. But even worse are their loved ones, who would tear death himself apart to get another hour with those they loved. It always... amazed me, how dedicated humans are to their loved ones."

Luffy touches one of Zoro's arms lightly, his fingertips skimming over his skin, over the raised marks of old scars. It's a surprising show of gentleness, Luffy treating his movements carefully and softly as he moves up Zoro's arm, stopping when he gets to the sleeve of his white shirt.

"So this is why Zoro never comes down to us anymore."

"Part of it," Zoro says. He wants Luffy to do whatever he just did again, unused to such care but immediately missing it once it's over. He'll never ask, though. "There also became too many humans. Besides, I was running too often into other Gods who still didn't want to see me."

Luffy slides his hand up to Zoro's shoulder.

"Isn't Zoro busy all the time with how many people there are on the Earth?"

"No. If I were, I couldn't help you," Zoro says, "I don't personally kill every person or need to escort them all around the Afterlife. These things will happen in their own. I just... What else am I going to do? I don't see the others and I don't go to Earth. I may as well be there to guide the dead."

"Oh, so Zoro being alive just kind of ensures that things die." Luffy pushes the collar of Zoro's shirt a bit, spying more scars on his shoulder and neck, "He's just being nice by leading people."

"Yes, that's it," Zoro says, "Honestly, I don't know if it's my life that ensures people die. They might keep dying even if I'm not here. Though I can't die, so I guess it doesn't matter."

"Well, you made dying a thing." Luffy says, "That was your contribution. If we lost you, we'd all live forever."

Zoro is silent a moment. He can't imagine a more celebrated death.

"I guess so," He says.

"And we can't live forever," Luffy continues, "That'd be sad and painful."

"How so?" Zoro asks, a bit surprised Luffy would think immortality a bad thing. Luffy starts walking again with Zoro, heading down a sloping path.

"Well...if we got hurt, we'd just keep feeling that pain. If me and my brothers were immortal, we'd have burnt alive but kept living. It'd be so much that we'd wanna die, don't you think?" Luffy asks, "Ace always said he never wanted to live forever, that living the day he had was just fine."

Zoro watches Luffy carefully as Luffy talks, his expression fairly unreadable. He's silent a few seconds, then looks forwards. Whatever he's thinking is gone in an instant, though, as the dirt on their path gives away suddenly to sand. In the distance, Zoro can hear the crashing of waves.

"Uh, Zoro?" Luffy says "Are we really not lost?"

Zoro looks at the sand, blinking.

"Fuck," He mutters, "Why'd you go down this way?! Now we're lost!"

"What!? Zoro led us down this way!" Luffy says, but his annoyance at being accused quickly disappears as he continues, "But since we're here, can we go to the beach?"

"I suppose," Zoro grumbles, "You're fine with taking a detour?"

"I'm fine with it! I've always liked the ocean," Luffy says, "We rarely had the funds to go visit."

"Not to mention nobody wanted to take care of my temple while you were away." Zoro points out dryly, following Luffy onto the sand.

"That too," Luffy says. He kicks off his shoes and picks them up, carrying them in one hand. The sand is warm beneath them, and Luffy enjoys the feeling. "But now there's no temple to watch, and— Hey, can Zoro swim?"

"I can," Zoro answers, "I haven't in a long time, but we all learned."

"Good, cuz I can't," Luffy says.

"Don't go off and drown," Zoro says, watching Luffy walk toward the water.

"I won't," Luffy says. He drops his sandals in the sand, then takes off his cloak and his bag. Once his hands are free, he grabs Zoro's hands. "Because Zoro's coming with me."

"What?" Zoro looks confused, "What-No. I'll kill fish."

"What, does Zoro want me to drown?" Luffy asks, "He's coming too."

"Just don't swim!" Zoro complains. He doesn't want to go in there, because the MINUTE he does, he's going to have a whale shark demanding where he's been for the last thousand years.

"Come on!" Luffy whines, walking backwards so he can pull Zoro in with him. "If Zoro goes with me we can go where it's really deep, and then Zoro can make sure I don't drown. Plus all the crabs will die so I won't step on any!"

"You shouldn't be excited about killing crabs." Zoro grumbles as he's pulled, "They're good for the ecosystem-wait, I'm not going in fully dressed! Give me a second to take off my boots at least."

Luffy drops Zoro's hands to let him take off his shoes, then his swords and his bag. As soon as they're in the sand alongside Luffy's things, Luffy grabs Zoro's hands again, grinning at him while backing towards the ocean.

"I can't believe this," Zoro grumbles. He'd have to get new clothes after this, but he makes no effort to pull his hands from Luffy's as they back into the water. It's freezing, and it stings where it touches Luffy's wounds, but Luffy doesn't care. "Don't worry about drowning. I'm not seeing anything on you."

"Seeing anything...?" Luffy asks.

"I mentioned earlier I know when all humans are going to die when looking at them," Zoro says, "I don't see any omens on you, so you won't die here."

"Oh," Luffy says, "Well, of course not. Zoro's here. He wouldn't let me die."

"No, your brothers would kill me," Zoro mutters, watching Luffy carefully as he wades further into the water, still holding Zoro's hands.

"That too," Luffy says, "But Zoro wouldn't let me die even if they weren't there. We're friends, after all."

"We're friends?" Zoro repeats, "Since when?"

"I don't know. I've always considered Zoro my friend, even before I met him," Luffy says, "I thought, if I'm spending all my time helping Zoro out, that makes us friends."

Zoro seems like he doesn't know how to respond, clutching Luffy's hands. He opens his mouth to say something, but is stopped by a wave crashing into the back of Luffy's head, and subsequently his face.

Luffy immediately stumbles closer to Zoro, which only works against Zoro when Luffy tries shaking the water out of his hair. He drops Zoro's hands to wipe the salt water out of his eyes, coughing.

"Zoro has to warn me next time there's a wave coming," Luffy whines.

"I wasn't thinking!" Zoro grouches, wiping his eyes as well, pushing back his hair. He then mutters, mostly to himself, "God-stupid ocean. Fuck you Jinbe."

Luffy giggles, taking Zoro's hands again. He stays near, enjoying the excuse for close contact.

"Now Zoro really has to be careful about waves," Luffy says.

"Maybe I'll just let you get hit." Zoro says.

"Hey!" Luffy says, "I'm not the one who cursed out Jinbe, Zoro is! Why should I get hit?"

"You're the one who wanted to go into the ocean!" Zoro points out, "That bastard is probably preparing a tsunami to hit us."

"Zoro needs to stop talking. Just cuz he can't drown doesn't mean I won't," Luffy says.

"What, you scared?" Zoro snorts. "Scared of the ocean?"

"No! I just don't like drowning," Luffy says.

"You won't drown!" Zoro says, "I told you already, there's no marks on you."

"Yeah, but when I'm underwater and I've got a bunch of water in my lungs, it still hurts," Luffy says, "It's terrible, feeling like you can't breathe."

"How would you know what that feels like?" Zoro asks, "You've never almost drowned before."

"I have, though," Luffy says, "I didn't always work at Zoro's temple. I lived by the ocean for a little bit before that, until my grandad dropped me off with Ace and Sabo."

"And you almost drowned then?" Zoro thinks back, trying to remember a child drowning. It happens more times than he'd like, so it's hard to pinpoint Luffy in his memory.

"Yeah. I was really scared, but my friend saved me," Luffy says.

"Your friend? I hope you thanked them. We'd be meeting much earlier if they hadn't." Zoro says.

"I did!" Luffy says, "I haven't really seen him since, though."

"You could always look for him once you get your brothers back." Zoro offers.

"But I'll be busy then. Zoro needs more followers so he doesn't lose all his power," Luffy says.

As Luffy talks, Zoro notices another wave coming up behind him. Zoro drops Luffy's hands, instead holding onto his waist so he can lift Luffy when the wave gets closer. Luffy notices the different grip, abruptly lifted up by Zoro in a second as the wave hits them.

"You don't have to focus on me so much." Zoro says, "I lasted this long just fine with only three members of my temple."

"Maybe," Luffy says, as Zoro sets him back down. "But I want to. That's what friends do."

"This is a strange friendship." Zoro mutters. He doesn't move his hands off of Luffy's waist.

"Really?" Luffy asks, "I like it, though."

"It's… not bad," Zoro admits, "But still strange. I'm a God, after all."

"So? Gods need friends, too," Luffy says, "Nobody should be alone."

Zoro feels the water kicking up around them, starting to have a stronger pull. Zoro frowns, holding Luffy a bit tighter.

"We should get out," He says, abruptly changing the subject.

"What? Why?" Luffy asks, "We just got in!"

"Because. He knows we're here, so we should-" Zoro pulls Luffy back when he sees an approaching wave, too small to be natural.

"Is Zoro afraid of the ocean now?" Luffy asks, teasing Zoro to get back at him for earlier, completely ignoring Zoro's attempts to get out of the water. With his back to the wave, he still hasn't noticed it.

"I'm not afraid of the ocean, just- dammit." Zoro mutters when he sees the top of Jinbe's head poking out of the water, staring at them. "You don't have to approach us like that, just come out if you're going to be this way."

Luffy finally turns around, looking back at the God approaching them. Unlike Zoro, who's dreading having to talk to yet another family member, Luffy seems excited.

"Get out of the water." Zoro says, dragging Luffy backward toward the sand. "He's just going to follow us anyway."

Luffy, like Zoro before, makes no real effort to help Zoro move him and just lets himself be pulled along. As soon as they step out of the water Luffy finds himself shivering, especially when Zoro takes his hands off Luffy's waist. Zoro seems completely unbothered, though, only watching Jinbe's approach.

Jinbe is an impressive God to behold in person. He's twice Luffy's height and his skin is blue. From a distance, he almost seems to blend into the very ocean that he rules over. He looks far less human than Zoro, and he looks powerful. Luffy knows from stories, though, that he's very friendly with the humans he meets.

"...Hello, Jinbe," Zoro says when the God steps out of the water, "I didn't want to go in. I probably killed an entire species of fish in there."

"The fish have faced worse creatures than you. They'll be alright," Jinbe says. He dries once he's on the sand, which Luffy is sort of jealous of given how cold he is now. "To what do I owe the honor of a visit? It's been a very long time since I've seen you by the ocean."

"This one." Zoro points at Luffy. "Got lost and wanted to go see the ocean. So we did."

"And who is this?" Jinbe asks, "I've never known you to spend time with humans."

"Someone I'm helping out," Zoro says, "One of the priests at my temple."

Jinbe nods. He looks to Luffy.

"And what's your name?" Jinbe asks.

"I'm Luffy!" Luffy says happily, waving at Jinbe. "I'm gonna go revive my brothers!"

"You need to stop telling everyone that," Zoro mutters.

"Revive? You're bringing back the dead?" Jinbe asks, looking to Zoro.

"Here we go again," Zoro sighs, "Yes. I'm bringing back the dead. This is a special case, they were sacrifices for me, and this is my last living priest. Moving on."

"You've clearly been busy since I've last seen you," Jinbe mutters, "Zoro, special case or not, this is your job. The dead are meant to die."

"Yeah, I'm fully aware how the dead are meant to die. I'm reminded it with every step, actually," Zoro scoffs, crossing his arms, "...Two revivals won't kill the world order."

"But if you're willing to make this exception, what about others?" Jinbe asks.

"It's not like this is being published," Zoro says, "He's my last living priest."

"How did that happen?" Jinbe says. The other Gods all have dozens, the fact that Zoro would be down to just one…

"They either all died or they denounced me," Zoro says, slapping Luffy on the back heartily. "So this is my only one left."

"Why isn't he at his temple, then?" Jinbe asks. Zoro looks to Luffy, who's now frowning. That's still a fresh wound...

"It burnt down," Luffy explains, "My brothers died."

"I'm... sorry to hear that," Jinbe says, "But disaster happens. You can't change that."

"Disaster..." Zoro sighs, "Yeah. Ok. I know I can't change that, but I will for him."

"Why? There will be more priests, Zoro," Jinbe says.

"No, there won't, Jinbe." Zoro says, "Nobody wants to even visit my temples."

"Ours burnt down with us inside," Luffy adds.

"That was my last active temple." Zoro says, "It's impossible for me to get more priests after this. Nobody even visited Luffy's temple, and then someone burnt it down."

"Zoro, can I talk to you alone?" Jinbe asks. He doesn't think Zoro really wants to talk about his job with Luffy right there.

Zoro hesitates, then looks to Luffy.

"We're gonna be gone for a little bit. Don't… don't die on your own. It won't take long," He says. Luffy laughs.

"I'm not gonna— Zoro?" Luffy says, because as Luffy is talking, Zoro seems to vanish. While the Gods aren't capable of changing forms, they are able to disappear so they're only visible to other Gods.

"Zoro?" Luffy looks around, waving a hand where Zoro just was.

"Let's… make this quick. I think he gets antsy when he's alone." Zoro crosses his arms. "I don't need to be scolded."

Jinbe watches Luffy frown at Zoro, waving his arms through Zoro's body. It's the first time Jinbe has seen Zoro become close to a human since Merry. After her death, all the Gods became wary about associating with humans due to how short-lived they are. However, every other God but Zoro eventually overcame that hurtle, who is of course most aware of their inevitable death. The others could focus on other things, different attributes of humans, but Zoro is surrounded constantly with their expiration. This, combined with them spreading a lie about him and rejecting him, made Zoro the only God who truly lives and works all alone.. It makes Jinbe happy to see he's finally found a human he gives a damn about, especially with how the rest of them have let him down. If he's willing to approach humans again after the last one had to die at his hand—knowing this one will one day befall a similar fate—Zoro might even be willing to return to the other Gods. However...

"Zoro, you have a responsibility to death," Jinbe says, "Humans must die and stay dead. He's mourning, and mourning takes time. Even if you care for him, you have to accept your job. Even if you have no priests, and even if humans don't like it, death is a part of life. There's a reason you and Chopper were always so close."

Zoro stares at the sand, looking like a child being scolded for a minor misbehavior, not a God potentially upsetting the world's order.

"I'm losing control, Jinbe." Zoro says after a minute of silence, looking at his hands. "Without priests, without people believing in us, we lose parts of ourselves. I'm losing control. I'm doing this for him, and for myself."

Jinbe looks to Zoro, watching as a bug flying in the air dies after getting near him. Jinbe can even tell how Luffy and Zoro got onto the beach by the path of dead and wilting plants leading to the sand. If Luffy dies, will more than just plants and bugs die from being near him? He remembers back after Zoro first developed his powers, after Merry died but before the next humans were created and people existed to build temples, animals that approached Zoro died in his presence. Would humans suffer the same fate? He can't even imagine how lonely it must feel to be Zoro. He must be scared, if he loses Luffy he might just lose the chance to have anyone close to him again. Zoro already knows what it's like to have no one believe in him after they cast him out. He's not talking about hypotheticals, he's reliving the past.

Jinbe is a man who believes strongly in responsibilities, but he knows that he had a responsibility to Zoro that he failed a long time ago. Zoro's family was the first to stop believing in Zoro, and for that, they failed him. Zoro has a responsibility to death, sure, but they have a responsibility to Zoro. Who would they be if they let the world stop believing in him again?

"Do you know for sure that you can revive his brothers?" Jinbe asks.

Zoro shuffles, burying the bug that had just died under the sand. He's relieved that Jinbe drops the scolding tone, taking on that much more caring persona that he knows he has.

"I don't know." Zoro admits, "I think Chopper can bring them back, since I can locate their souls easily, as they don't get punished or sent along like the others since they're my priests. I'd like to think it could work, if me and Chopper both do it together."

"And if it doesn't?" Jinbe asks, "I'd hate for you to lose your last remaining priest to heartbreak."

"Then..." Zoro sighs, "At least they'll be together. Then I'll just deal with it. I'll stay in my temple so I don't accidentally kill anyone."

Jinbe doesn't seem happy with that answer, but he doesn't say it.

"There's always our temples, too. No matter how little control over your power you have, or how close you get to us, we can't die," Jinbe says, "We weren't there for you once, when you needed us to be there for you the most. We won't make that mistake again."

"It's not like I blame you for that." Zoro says. "...I don't need your temples. I have my own, even if its small."

"It's not the temples I want you to visit," Jinbe says, "Come visit us, Zoro. Even if it's just for a little while. None of us want to see you suffering."

"You sure about that?" Zoro scoffs, a couple of leaves falling off the trees nearby as he does, "...I'm fine in my little temple, like I said."

Jinbe nods. He opens his mouth to say something, but Luffy cuts him off.

"Zoro!" Luffy says. He's clearly getting impatient with their disappearance. He sits down in the sand, making a whiny noise. Jinbe doesn't really know what exactly Zoro likes about Luffy, but maybe it's Luffy's pushiness and dislike of being by himself that Zoro needs right now. Perhaps Luffy can wear him down enough that he finally opens up again, close the distance between Zoro and the world that pushed him away.

"I'll let you get back to him. Sorry for interrupting you," Jinbe says, "You don't have to visit, but the door is open. You can consider it. And… thank you for visiting me today."

"You don't have to apologize." Zoro rubs his arm awkwardly, "...I appreciate the offer, Jinbe. Thanks." He turns to look away, quickly letting himself be revealed to Luffy so Jinbe wouldn't reply.

"Geez, do you ever shut up?" Zoro groans at Luffy, crossing his arms. "I told you I'd just be a few minutes!"

Luffy doesn't reply, instead throwing himself at Zoro in a hug. He wraps his arm right around Zoro's torso, leaning his head against Zoro's chest. Zoro stumbles backward at Luffy's weight. He's by no means heavy or anything past scrawny, but he's certainly very solid, bony elbows digging into his sides with this hug. It's the first time he had been held like this in hundreds of years, so in a quick movement he shoves Luffy away.

"The hell are you doin'?!" Zoro demands, flustered, "I was just gone a few minutes!"

"So?" Luffy says, "I can still hug Zoro when he gets back."

"You don't need to hug me—why are you even hugging me?" Zoro demands.

"I didn't think Zoro would get so defensive about a hug," Luffy says.

"I'm not being defensive, it's just...I don't hug, got it?" Zoro points at him, "I don't do that."

"But Zoro could," Luffy says.

"But I don't." Zoro says. Luffy frowns. "No."

"Is this because Zoro actually doesn't like hugs, or is it because he thinks he's too cool for them?" Luffy says, "Cuz he's not cool. At all."

"I'm really cool," Zoro mutters, "I just haven't been hugged in hundreds of years. Practically since my birth."

"That's exactly why I should hug Zoro, though," Luffy says.

"No, it's not." Zoro says, seeing Luffy raise his arms for another one. "Are you always this touchy?"

"Yes," Luffy says.

"At least you're honest." Zoro steps back as Luffy steps forward, holding a hand out, "No. We aren't hugging again."

"One more time?" Luffy says, "Please?"

"No." Zoro backs up again, "I don't want to. It feels fuckin' weird."

"Aw," Luffy says, but he drops his arms, "...Is there any chance that weird feeling Zoro doesn't know is happiness?"

Zoro feels a bit bad when Luffy looks rejected, but doesn't let it hinder him.

"...No. That's impossible. I definitely know what happiness feels like," He says.

"Is Zoro sure?" Luffy says, "Cuz he just seems grumpy all the time."

"I'm not!" Zoro says, "I'm just serious."

"If Zoro says so," Luffy says. He decides to drop the conversation, looking back to their stuff in a pile further up on the sand. "My clothes are gross now. I'm gonna change."

"I'll join you." Zoro follows him, glancing back at jinbe, who was watching the whole thing. He frowns, waving him off to send him back into the ocean, then turns back to Luffy. "Oh, fuck—I didn't even—is the salt hurting your wounds, Luffy?"

"Kind of," Luffy admits, opening his bag. "But I'm pretty good at ignoring that stuff. My pain tolerance is pretty high."

"You should tell me when you're in pain," Zoro says, but he has no idea what to do with the information.

"If I do, will Zoro hug me?" Luffy asks, looking over his shoulder at Zoro with a cheeky grin.

"No. That'd irritate your wounds more," Zoro grouches, opening a portal to something and reaching inside to pull out dry clothes. "What the—godammit." He gripes, sticking his head through and seeing his sleeping quarters an absolute mess. Why did he leave those two up here alone?

"What's Zoro cursing about now?" Luffy asks, watching Zoro pulls his clothes back through the portal so he can close it.

"Your brothers went through my shit." Zoro grumbles, taking off his shirt and tossing it aside.

"They did?" Luffy asks. His mission to change clothes completely forgotten, Luffy turns all his attention to Zoro, sitting down in the sand beside his bag. "How're they doing? Are they okay? What have they been up to?"

"Uh..." Zoro looks down at him, continuing to change into dry clothes, shoving his haramaki off. "They're fine. Mostly just raiding my temple for things to do—they've lead a few wandering spirits on the right path, but… that's about all I know."

Luffy nods. He's used to being around Ace and Sabo all the time. Hearing about them second-hand is strange.

"Zoro's sure he's not leaving anything out?" Luffy asks. He misses his brothers a lot, but hearing about what they're up to from Zoro makes him feel like they're just at home and not gone.

"They're weirded out that they don't get hungry anymore." Zoro says. "...I'm pretty sure they're watching us right now, so let me just do this."

He leans down, flicking Luffy's forehead.

"Hey!" Luffy cries, swatting at Zoro before he can pull back. "Why!?"

"For fucking up my room." Zoro says, "It'll piss them off."

"Asshole," Luffy says, "They're gonna make Zoro's room worse now."

"I'll just keep being mean to you if they do." Zoro shrugs on a shirt of similar style, just black with the sleeves rolled now, and hesitates when he goes to fasten the cloak around his shoulders.

"Zoro can have his cloak back. I don't mind," Luffy says. He changes clothes as Zoro does, swapping his wet shirt and shorts for a new set.

"No, you should wear it." Zoro decides, placing it on Luffy's shoulders. "Protection."

Luffy giggles, pulling it right around himself. He likes the cloak, honestly, and he's happy that Zoro keeps giving it to him. It's heavy, but it never feels too hot, even when he has it wrapped around him on a warm day like today. To Luffy, the cloak just feels like a hug.

"Should we keep going?" Luffy asks.

"Yes," Zoro answers, "But we can stop and rest tonight. Make sure you eat."

Luffy nods, already hungry at the mention of dinner. He slings his bag over his shoulder and waits for Zoro to collect up his things. Once Zoro is ready, Luffy turns and walks towards the path where they entered the beach. He hums a tune to himself as they walk.

Zoro looks back at the beach one last time before he's called by Luffy, thinking of the offer Jinbe has given him. That's twice now he's been asked to come back, and the more he's offered...

No. He can't go back. Not yet. Not without a proper apology.

* * *

Travel to the next town takes longer, given Luffy and Zoro are stopping to take more breaks to eat, rest, and change bandages (though bandaging wounds is quickly abandoned). Despite the longer time, the two of them are in much better moods. Zoro doesn't need to sleep, so he keeps watch while Luffy dozes. It gives him time to think about the encounters he's been having.

In the dead of night, Zoro can admit to himself that he wishes things could go back to the way they were before Merry's death. He would like to forgive them and go home. However, he knows better than to just walk back in and hope for the best. The fact that he's down to just one priest reminds him he's still feeling the pain of their betrayal hundreds of years later.

Speaking of, Zoro looks to Luffy. He's curled up in Zoro's cloak on the ground, using his backpack as a pillow and snoring loudly. Seeing Luffy like that makes Zoro smile fondly. Luffy called him friend and missed him when he was gone, even just for a moment. When was the last time anyone did something like that? Zoro forgot what it felt like to be wanted. Now that he remembers, and his family wants him, he doesn't want to let go of the feeling. If this fails and Luffy leaves him...

Zoro reaches out his hand and places it in Luffy's hair. He's not really one for affection, but with the cover of the lonely night, Zoro thinks he can make an exception for just a moment. He appreciates what Luffy has done for him, both in these past few days and at Zoro's temple the past few years. Maybe Zoro can consider Luffy his friend, too. The first friend he's had since Merry.

Up until just a few minutes before Luffy wakes, Zoro plays with his hair. He doesn't mention it when Luffy wakes up, or when Luffy says he slept really well, or when they start walking again.

The three days spent walking until they reach the next town are some of the most comfortable Zoro's had in a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lew: fun fact! this au is actually a few months old! maddie and i have been doing zolu rps for just over 2 years, and this is one for one of the old ones. i did a lot of the worldbuilding, since i rlly enjoy doing it. this is probably one of our aus w the Deepest Lore n stuff (tho we have a lot of elaborate aus). im p proud of it! (and really happy we got to share it!)


	3. Theft and Wealth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new town and new feelings on the road to Drum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lew: shoutout to my friend jess for editing. she got ahead and edited chapter 4, too (and cried in 4 lol). thats p cool. fun times

"How many more towns do you think we have until we get to Chopper?" Luffy asks, shoving a handful of berries in his mouth, "One? Two?"

"Shouldn't be many," Zoro says, "Maybe... two more towns and a long walk through some forest. A few days travel."

"Great!" Luffy smiles, playing with the cloak's material now, "Then we revive my brothers and we walk home."

"We should be at the next town within the hour," Zoro says, "I think... Either Nami or the cook have a temple here, but I'm not sure which."

"I hope it's the cook." Luffy grins, excited. "He could make us something to eat!"

"I'm not eating anything of his. He'd probably poison me," Zoro mutters.

"Zoro can't die though, so it's okay if he does." Luffy points out.

"Gee, thanks," Zoro mutters, "You know, some humans believe that if a God has no worshippers, they can be killed."

"But Zoro's still got one." Luffy points at himself, "So it's no big deal."

"If you say so," Zoro says, amused. Looking down the road ahead of them, Zoro can see the tops of buildings appear over the hill. Looks like they've arrived.

"We should get more food." Luffy says, looking in his small pouch of money he had left. "I'm hungry!"

"We can try the temple. I'm sure I can get someone there to feed you," Zoro says. He doesn't really believe he's saying it, given how long he's been avoiding the others for. The day before the fire, Zoro wouldn't have believed it if he was told he'd be willingly entering a family member's temple, but Luffy does need to eat. At least, that's how he rationalizes the fact he actually might kind of almost want to go. Can't have Luffy starving, right?

As they approach the town, something seems off about it. There's a lot people moving around the square, hurrying and speaking in low whispers. It's hard to see what any of them are selling, and a few of them adjust clothing to hide what Zoro can only assume is weaponry as they pass. Luffy doesn't seem to notice or care about any of this as he heads to the temple.

Zoro keeps an eye on those shuffling around them, moving to walk closer to Luffy.

A man bumps into Luffy on the street, then hurries off without apologizing.

"Hey!" Luffy calls after him, but he disappears into the crowd. A number of other people are gathered around, watching Luffy and Zoro carefully, as if assessing them. Zoro isn't sure what they want, but he is sure to leave a hand on his swords where anyone who might want to try something can see it.

The temple itself isn't in the best shape, but it's still bigger and grander than Zoro's was. Zoro understands the shifty nature of those outside when he realizes who it's dedicated to, though: The temple is devoted to Nami, Goddess of the weather, wealth, and—most importantly, at least for this town...

"What was with that guy?" Luffy grouches as they walk up the steps of the temple, looking st the statue inside. "Oh, a girl! Is this… Nami?" He asks, looking up at her statue.

"Yeah, it is," Zoro says. He looks back at the crowd, "Hey, check your pockets. I think you might've got pickpocketed back there."

"Pickpocketed?" Luffy repeats, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Ah-all my money! It's gone!"

"Well, Luffy. Welcome to the temple of the Goddess of thieves," Zoro says, ushering Luffy inside. It's beautiful, likely the only building in town where gold and jewels can be displayed openly. After all, it wouldn't do a thief well to steal from the Goddess who's keeping them from being caught.

Luffy frowns at the lack of money, but gets over it rather quickly, deciding there was nothing he could do about it.

"Nami is the goddess of thieves?" He asks.

"She is. After all, what's the easiest way to get wealth but to steal it?" Zoro says. He's sure Nami will appear now that he's entered, so he just needs to wait for her.

"Right!" A voice rings out behind them, sounding smug. They turn around, an orange haired woman leaning on the wall. "The easiest way to get wealth is to steal it from those who aren't paying attention. The easiest way to get anything is from stealing." Nami smiles at Zoro, holding up Wadou, "Especially stealing from those who get distracted."

"Wh— Hey!" Zoro says, stepping forwards to try to snatch it back. It's been a long time, clearly Zoro's gotten rusty at watching his stuff with her. "How the fuck did you manage that? I was holding it!"

"I don't know, Zoro. Maybe you should just be more careful!" Nami smiles, holding her hand out to him. "I'll take 1.5 billion beli for it."

"No, it's mine!" Zoro says, "You can't just take it and charge me for it!"

"Then… 2 billion." Nami says.

"That's even higher! Besides, what kind of person carries that sort of money on them!" Zoro protests. Luffy snickers watching them. Their bickering reminds him of his brothers.

"I don't know Zoro, but I guess I'll be keeping this." Nami hums, sliding the sword through one of her belt loops.

"Like fuck you will! Give me my sword back!" Zoro says. Luffy laughs loudly watching Zoro get picked on.

"You guys are funny!" Luffy laughs, dying down to giggles when Zoro whirls on him with a glare. "I think he wants that back, though."

"He can have it back after we talk for a bit," Nami says, patting Wadou's handle. "This way he can't just leave."

"Makes sense. Zoro's pretty moody," Luffy says. He ignores Zoro's scowl, instead looking at Nami. "You're Nami, right? I'm Luffy!"

"I take it you've heard about Luffy from Usopp and Jinbe?" Zoro says

"Yeah, I'm already caught up with you and your little companion," Nami says, "And yes, I'm Nami. Goddess of all that is good in the world."

"I thought Sanji was the God of food?" Luffy says.

"Wh-No! Food isn't all that's-I'm the God of wealth, dumbass!" Nami stresses, "Wealth is the good in the world!"

"Yeah, but you can't eat wealth," Luffy says.

"You can use wealth to buy food, though." Nami points out. "Great food."

"I guess that's true," Luffy says.

"Speaking of, he got pickpocketed on the way in by one of your followers, so you've got to get him food," Zoro says.

"Oh, good for them." Nami hums, playing with her hair. "Follow me, I'll take you to my room."

Luffy follows with Zoro trailing behind him to a room in the back of the temple.

"Why do you have your own room?" Luffy asks, "Zoro didn't have a room in my temple."

"I made this temple." Nami explains, "Well, Franky made it for me, but he made it with me in mind. I say my room, but..." Nami opens the door, and they are faced with piles of gold. "I mostly just use it as storage. I've got food back here somewhere."

"Food that isn't expired?" Zoro asks.

"...It shouldn't be!" Nami smiles, "The humans use this place as storage too, so..."

"Oh," Luffy says, "Hope they didn't eat it all. I don't want to pass out again!"

"You've passed out because of lack of food?" Nami laughs, "Good job, Zoro. Stop trying to kill the guy."

"I wasn't trying to..." Zoro mutters, crossing his arms.

"He wasn't!" Luffy says, "I forgot to tell him."

"Guess the only thing that can keep one hopeless idiot company is another hopeless idiot," Nami says, watching Luffy try to walk around the gold to the back of the room, looking for food. He finds a little storage in the back, but the only thing in here is...

"Oranges," Luffy says, picking one up. "Lots and lots of oranges."

"I like oranges," Nami says. She offers no further justification.

"Oh well, food is food!" Luffy grins, sitting cross legged with the box of oranges in his lap, working to open it up.

"Don't eat them all!" Nami adds.

"He's going to eat them all," Zoro says.

"I'm gonna eat them all!" Luffy confirms, back to the two gods now.

"Eat them all and you'll pay for them!" Nami says. Zoro's surprised to find himself with a small smile on his face, amused with what's going on. He's enjoying the interaction and how comfortable it is. Though it's been decades since he last saw Nami, he's fallen right back into the same dynamic he left off on.

"Ehhh? I don't have any money though!" Luffy complains, "And I'm hungry! All we have in the forest is berries and stuff and sometimes deer when Zoro kills stuff..."

"Wow, deer?" Nami says, looking to Zoro, "What did Chopper ever do to you?"

"They're obnoxious," Zoro grouches, "Always jumping in our way… besides, Chopper's a reindeer, not a  _deer_."

"I know, but didn't you know most humans think he's a normal deer?" Nami says, "It's actually illegal to kill them in some towns, I hear."

"Because they think he's a regular deer?" Zoro laughs, "Better than that time they all thought he was a tanuki."

"I guess so," Nami says. They're interrupted by Luffy walking back over to them and holding up the crate of oranges to show Zoro. It's entirely orange peels now.

"I'm done," Luffy says.

"You owe me now." Nami grumbles, taking the box. "I can't believe you."

"I told you I'd eat them all," Luffy says.

"Yeah, but I didn't think you were being serious!" Nami places the crate on the ground, crossing her arms, "Was that all you needed here?"

"I guess so," Luffy says. He looks to Zoro. "Did you need anything else?"

"Yeah." Zoro points at Wadou, still on Nami's waist. "I need that."

"Not so fast," Nami says, "You haven't visited in decades. You're not leaving so soon."

"So you're doing this too, huh?" Zoro sighs, "Alright. Luffy, get comfortable. Nami's holding us hostage."

"If we're being held hostage," Luffy sits down on a stack of crates, "Tell me about the other Gods."

"All you want to do is learn about the Gods." Zoro says.

"I'm a priest. That's what I do!" Luffy says.

"Well, I'm the best God," Nami says, "Jot that down."

"I don't have anything to write with," Luffy mutters.

"Jot it down in your brain." Nami says, "I'm the best one, aaaaand… Zoro's alright."

"Yeah, he is," Luffy says. Zoro whacks the back of his head.

"Don't agree with her!" Zoro says, "What kind of priest are you?"

Luffy rubs the back of his head. "What? I'm just listening to what she has to say!"

"Unbelievable. My own priest likes other Gods better than me," Zoro says, "I hope the rest of you have priests who are more faithful."

"I like Zoro plenty!" Luffy says, "His powers still work, don't they? So I still like him."

"That's the first time I've seen a human like your powers," Nami says. Zoro frowns at her, but she continues as though she doesn't see it, "And my priests are faithful. My current favorite, Carina, works here at this temple, actually. I'll see if I can introduce you some other time."

"Is she a thief too?" Luffy asks, grinning. "Like everyone else?"

"She is. She could steal your other two swords off of you without you noticing," Nami brags. She doesn't miss the way Zoro tries to discreetly check that he still has the other two swords on his waist. Luffy seems excited, however.

"I wanna steal stuff! Nami, how do I steal stuff?"

"I could bless you..." Nami says, "What do you think, Zoro? Should I bless your priest?"

"Bless him? With the power of thievery? I don't know if I want that on my hands," Zoro says.

"Zoro's just mad I punched him when he gave my super strength," Luffy says.

"No, I'll be mad when you start stealing from people and your brothers call me a bad influence," Zoro says.

"If they didn't want Zoro to influence me they shouldn't have died and left me alone with him," Luffy says.

"Hey, you would all be dead if they didn't do that," Zoro says.

"No, if they didn't, they'd probably both be alive," Luffy says. He thinks about that for a second, then looks to Nami, as if trying to avoid focusing on what he just said. "What are the other Gods up to? Does everyone like to hang out and visit their temples and stuff?"

"Pretty much." Nami says, "We all hang around our temples and mingle with the humans. When we're not, we hang out together up there." She points to the ceiling, implying the sky.

"Oh," Luffy says, looking up. He looks at Zoro, "Let's go there."

Zoro barks a laugh, amazed at the way Luffy says that like it's no big deal.

"We can't go there," He says, "Not only would you likely die from going through the portal, but you're not even allowed up there, being a human."

"But Zoro's already making me a special case," Luffy says, sitting back to lean against Zoro, grinning with undue confidence.

"I can't keep making you a special case with everything." Zoro places a hand on Luffy's head, rolling his eyes, "Especially not with my family. Robin wouldn't let me hear the end of it."

"Well, Zoro should still do it anyway," Luffy says, leaning a bit into Zoro's hand. Though he won't say it, going from having two affectionate brothers to the standoffish Zoro has been tough, especially given what he's been through the past few days. He's happy Zoro is giving him something right now, at least.

"You should, Zoro! I'm sure he'd like it. The other Gods would love to show him their temples, I'm sure, with how excited they all are about him. And he'd probably get a kick out of the empty temple," Nami cuts in.

"Empty temple?" Luffy asks, looking to Nami.

"You haven't heard?" Nami asks, "When we made Skypiea a place for us to live, we asked the universe to create temples for all of us to live in. The universe answered not by making ten temples, one for each of us, but eleven. None of us know who the last temple is supposed to be dedicated to. Some humans think there's going to be another God someday!"

"That's super cool! Zoro's gotta take me up to see it!" Luffy says, turning to Zoro now.

"I can't," Zoro repeats, "Sorry, but you've got to stay on Earth. Two feet on the ground and all that."

"My feet aren't on the ground right now," Luffy says, referring to the fact he's got his legs crossed below him. "Plus, I'm Zoro's favorite priest!"

"You're my only priest," Zoro points out.

"I don't see Zoro's point," Luffy says.

"You'd automatically be my favorite, because you're my only one," Zoro says, "So that doesn't really count."

"But I was Zoro's favorite even when he had more priests, right?" Luffy asks.

"...I'm not telling you that," Zoro says, "You'll abuse your power."

"So that's a yes?" Luffy says, grinning, "I'm telling Ace and Sabo when they're back. I'm Zoro's favorite!"

"Shut up," Zoro grouches, "They'll never let me hear the end of that!"

"Oh, no. I'm holding that over their heads forever. Zoro's, too," Luffy says.

"I'm not doing shit for you now." Zoro places his knuckles on Luffy's head and digs them in.

"Hey!" Luffy says, pushing Zoro's hand away before leaning back entirely against Zoro.

"You're heavy." Zoro complains, but he actually isn't. Luffy pushes back harder in retaliation, Zoro finally just giving in and letting it happen. Nami leans against the wall, smiling to herself as she watched the interactions. It's the most she's heard Zoro say in some time, including laugh. This human was doing more for him than he probably realized.

"I'm not heavy, Zoro's carried me around before," Luffy says. He's smiling to himself, in a good mood. "He's a nice guy."

"You were heavy then, too." Zoro says, absently throwing an arm around his middle. "Heavy now."

"Good thing Zoro's got that strength thing he does, then," Luffy says, patting the arm around his stomach.

Nami's pretty sure she could slip out without it being noticed, as they seem to have delved into their own conversation, but she'd missed seeing Zoro happy.

"Good thing, or else you'd get carried nowhere." Zoro says.

"Then I'd be dead," Luffy says.

"You  _die_  if you're not carried?" Zoro snorts, "What kind of death is that?"

"Well, Zoro carried me out of the fire, right?" Luffy says, looking up at him. "So if Zoro couldn't carry me, I'd be dead."

"I could've dragged you out," Zoro offers.

"Being carried is much better, though," Luffy says. Zoro rolls his eyes, then catches Nami's staring.

"...What?" He asks.

"Nothing," She says, smiling. "Just been a while since I've seen you have so much fun. Or any fun."

"I have fun." Zoro says, "All the time. I have plenty of fun."

"Name the last fun thing you did," Nami says.

"We went to the beach the other day," Luffy offers.

"We did. That was pretty fun," Zoro says, "Even if Jinbe came and scolded me."

"Last fun thing you did without Luffy," Nami says.

"...Trained," Zoro says, "Got better with my swords."

"That doesn't count," Nami says.

"Wh-No, that's fun!" Zoro says.

"No, it's not," Nami says, "Name something actually fun."

"What's your idea of fun?" Zoro asks, "Stealing shit?"

"Stealing shit is fun. More fun than playing with swords," Nami says.

"How the fuck is that more fun than swords?" Zoro asks, "All you're doing is just taking shit."

"But it's cool shit," Nami says.

"Not as cool as swords." Zoro says.

"What if I steal swords?" Nami asks, patting Wadou at her side.

"That isn't fun. That's rude and you're an asshole," Zoro says.

"You're just not being a good sport," Nami says.

"That-this isn't a sport! That's very important to me and you're just fine with taking it!" Zoro protests.

"I'm going to give it back!" Nami says, "Maybe I should hold onto it a few years, though, so you'll actually come visit me."

"A few years-hell no!" Zoro says, "You're such an asshole."

"Calm down, Zoro. I'm kidding," Nami says, "I'm not going to take it forever. You really should stop by more, though."

"Yes, every other God has said that too." Zoro says.

"Well, Zoro, we miss you," Nami says, "Even Sanji does."

"Sanji does  _not_  miss me," Zoro says, "Don't lie."

"He does, though. Why do you think he causes so much trouble for you?" Nami says.

"Because he's a dick?" Zoro offers.

"He misses you," Nami says, "But both of you are stubborn assholes, so he can't just say that."

"He's the stubborn asshole. He poisons my food sometimes!" Zoro says, "Just to say fuck you."

"But it gets your attention, doesn't it?" Nami says.

"Of course it does. Last time he did that I was bedridden for weeks! I couldn't greet any of the new souls." Zoro says.

"I didn't know Zoro could get sick," Luffy mutters. He looks to Nami. "What's Sanji the God of again?"

"Food, Fire, and charity." Nami explains, "But if you ask him, he'll say food, women and chivalry."

"Oh," Luffy says, "Food's good. I don't like fire, though."

Zoro frowns. Speaking Sanji messing with him for attention... The temple fire was likely Sanji's doing, thinking back now. It's unlikely Sanji realized Luffy and his brothers were inside—he's the sort of person who'd want to keep his hands clean—but if the temple really was burned as a way of Sanji messing with Zoro...

Zoro looks down at Luffy. He's still got his arm around Luffy's waist, but he moves his other hand to put it again on the top of Luffy's head. If that's how it burned, this is Zoro's fault.

Luffy looks up at Zoro, smiling at the attention.

"What is it, Zoro?" He asks, holding onto one of his arms.

"It's… Nothing," Zoro says. He drops his hand off Luffy's head. No need for Luffy to be making enemies now.

Luffy seems a bit disappointed when Zoro drops his hand, grabbing it before it gets too far and placing it on his shoulder.

"Zoro can keep doing that, I don't mind," Luffy says.

"...Alright," Zoro replies. He glances at Nami, then glares at her when he notices she's smiling again.

"Zoro, you're so cute," Nami grins, "It's like a perfect little scene."

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Zoro mutters.

"You're just getting along so nicely." Nami gestures, "It's cute!"

"Was I not supposed to get along nicely?" Zoro mutters. Luffy looks up at Zoro only to have his head pushed back down, Zoro trying to hide the fact he's getting embarrassed.

"You're never this nice. Or close to people," Nami says

"I'm his favorite," Luffy says, proud. "And his friend."

"I can tell." Nami smiles, "Zoro is never that kind with me."

"Zoro should be nicer to his siblings," Luffy says, reaching back to smack Zoro's chest, "She gave us free food."

"She gave you oranges. That's it," Zoro says.

"Oranges are free food," Luffy says.

"Not  _good_  free food!" Zoro says, "It's not even a meal!"

"What's Zoro care? He didn't eat it," Luffy says.

"...I don't want you fainting again cuz you just ate a shit ton of oranges." Zoro says.

Luffy looks up to grin at him, then looks at Nami.

"Nami's right. Zoro's cute," Luffy decides.

"I'm not cute! Don't talk like that. I'm the God of death." Zoro grouches.

"Zoro can be the God of death and be cute," Luffy says.

"I can't. That destroys the purpose," Zoro says.

"Why?" Luffy asks.

"Because I'm supposed to be scary, obviously?" Zoro says.

"Zoro isn't scary, though," Luffy says.

"I'm supposed to be," Zoro says, "So I'll have to work on that."

"But I like Zoro how he is," Luffy says.

"Well, too bad." Zoro says, "It's only scary Zoro from here on out."

"Aw," Luffy says, "...So Zoro admits he was cute before?"

"No, I wasn't cute at all." Zoro says.

"But Zoro said it's scary Zoro from here on out," Luffy says, "So then he was cute before."

"...Stop arguing with me," Zoro says. "It doesn't matter."

Luffy laughs, taking Zoro's other hand off his shoulder to wrap it around himself.

"Zoro's grumpy," Luffy grins, "Maybe he needs food, too."

"Or a nap," Nami says, "He used to nap all the time."

"I haven't napped in forever," Zoro admits, "No time."

"Maybe Zoro should sleep when I'm sleeping," Luffy says.

"No, because I'm keeping watch." Zoro says.

"Then  _I'll_  keep watch," Luffy says.

"...No. Obviously not," Zoro says, "I can protect us much easier."

"When we leave the next town, then," Luffy says, since the outskirts of this town are probably where they'd most need to watch their things as they sleep.

"You don't want to have a poor watchman outside of here," Nami says. She takes Wadou from her belt and tosses it to Zoro, "It sounds like you two are done here, if you're discussing travel plans. Speaking of, do you need a map? I know Zoro has a tendency to get turned around."

"He does!" Luffy laughs brightly, "We'll take one, Yeah! We've been walking pretty blindly to Drum..."

"I'll get you one," Nami promises, "Luffy, do you want to come with me to grab one?"

"Okay!" Luffy hops up, following Nami. "Don't get lonely, Zoro!"

"I don't get lonely," Zoro says.

Nami leads Luffy to another room. It's storage, like the last one, but instead of gold it holds rolls and rolls of paper. There's a desk in and numerous blank sheets, plus one open and half drawn out on the desk's surface. There's an inkwell beside it. Nami looks through the rolled up papers for a map. When she finds the one she wants, she holds it out to Luffy.

"I made this myself. Flew over the area and drew it all out," Nami says. Luffy takes it, but she doesn't let go. "Before you leave, I want to talk to you first. One on one."

"One on one?" Luffy repeats, a bit confused but rolling with it. "What's up?"

"I wanted to thank you," Nami says, "Zoro really needed this. He needed you."

"It's not like I set out to help him, but that's good that he's better!" Luffy says.

"You've helped him a lot," Nami says, "Gods have amazing memory meant to stretch centuries, but I'd forgotten what it sounded like to hear him laugh."

"I wanna make him laugh even more." Luffy promises, "He needs to smile more!"

"Thank you," Nami says, "You've done in a few days what we've failed to do in centuries."

"That's cuz Zoro doesn't trust you guys." Luffy says.

"Yeah, I know," Nami says, "Thank you for giving him someone to trust."

"You think he trusts me?" Luffy asks.

"I think so," Nami says, "If he's willing to do all this for you... He hasn't had anyone who wants to spend time with him in a long time. He might not even realize he's doing it, but I'd imagine he agreed to do this for you because he wanted to spend time with you."

"I think maybe he just thought I couldn't take care of myself," Luffy laughs, "But that's a nice way of thinking about it, too."

"Could be both," Nami says, "Either way, I'm glad he found you. He's no good at taking care of himself, either. He doesn't think of his own feelings." She leans back against her desk. "I know I have no right to be asking you this. I lost the right years ago, to be trying to watch over him. Still, could you help him take care of his heart?"

"He's helping me take care of mine," Luffy admits quietly. He smiles as he does, running his hands over the map. "So I can do the same for him."

"Thank you, Luffy. I owe you," Nami says. She walks over and pats his shoulder before turning him around towards the door. "You should go. Don't mention this to Zoro, I'm sure he'll only get annoyed."

"He does that a lot!" Luffy laughs, following Nami to the door.

"It was nice meeting you, too. You're the talk of all the Gods now, you know," Nami says, "I'm sure you'll be meeting more of us soon. Everyone's pretty excited about you."

"I'm glad the Gods like me! That means I'm really important. I should get a bronze statue," Luffy says.

"What, like we do? I don't know you're  _that_  important," She says, amused. "Maybe ask Zoro."

"I'll ask him for one, thanks!" Luffy chirps, pushing past Nami to rush where Zoro is waiting. Nami follows him to the doorway, standing in it. Luffy hovers by Zoro's side, as if trying to make sure he wasn't lonely in the few minutes he was by himself.

"I'll show you two the way out," Nami says.

"Thanks Nami!" Luffy waves the map a little bit, "This'll be useful!"

"It's nothing," Nami says, "The map is enchanted. It'll show you where you stand in it so that you can see where you have to go. I figure this will be useful with Zoro."

"It is?!" Luffy opens it right away, and sure enough, there is a red dot marking where they are. "That's so cool! Zoro, we'll get to Drum in no time!"

"It's still a few days walk..." Zoro mutters.

"But it'll be a lot faster, since we won't get lost this way!" Luffy says, holding up the map.

"I guess so..." Zoro says, "Come on, let's set out. Don't want to get stuck here at night, I imagine."

"Okay! Thanks Nami!" Luffy waves at her, stepping out of the temple.

Zoro follows him out, keeping close as they walk out to be sure nothing is stolen. He feels... better, after walking out of Nami's temple. She was easy to talk to, she didn't lecture him, he could almost believe nothing had changed. It almost feels as though it could be easy to return, if only…

* * *

Zoro spends the rest of the day half a step behind Luffy, marching through the forest alongside a cool summer breeze. The path is worn from years of use, a strange sight to Zoro given that the last time he was really exploring Earth like this, he'd been the first to go anywhere. He finds himself carefully studying the sound of the wind in the trees, or the rocks in the path below him, trying to take in everything at once. He studies Luffy, too, of course.

As the the sun sinks deeper in the sky, Zoro can't help but feel fonder with every time Luffy looks over his shoulder to tell Zoro something, check if Zoro is still following, or even just to smile at Zoro without reason. Luffy hums as he walks, and the meaningless song carries in its notes a peace which Zoro hasn't felt in a long time.

When it becomes too dark to safely continue, Zoro convinces Luffy to settle down with him in a clearing. Zoro catches and cooks a bird for Luffy, who eats it quickly. Dinner dealt with and the daylight depleted, Luffy needs to sleep.

Zoro sits back against a tree, their bags under his arm and his swords across his lap. He watches Luffy settle down on his cloak, as close as Zoro will allow (as Zoro was clear the first night on his boundaries), then closes his eyes to sleep. Though the grass is plenty soft, Zoro's suddenly sure that Luffy isn't comfortable.

"Luffy?" Luffy opens his eyes and looks over, so Zoro pats the ground beside himself. "Come here."

Luffy blinks at Zoro, tired from the walking, full from eating, generally just in a good mood but ready to go down for the night. He rubs his eyes, yawning widely.

"What's up?" He asks, scooting to where Zoro pats. He brings the cloak with him, wrapped around his shoulders.

"Here," Zoro says. He puts a hand on Luffy's head, moving it so Luffy can use his leg as a pillow. "Figured... this'd be more comfortable."

"Zoro's comfy." Luffy yawns, rubbing his cheek into Zoro's leg. He settles in, tucking the cloak around himself, then latches onto Zoro's pant leg. "It's good."

"Glad you think so," Zoro says. "...Well. Good night."

"Wait!" Luffy says quickly, turning to look up at him. "Can Zoro tell me something?"

"I... guess so?" Zoro says, "What's up?"

"I wanna know about Zoro." Luffy says quietly, "I've read a lot of things about him, but I wanna hear about him from himself."

"I will, but..." Zoro thinks, "For everything I tell you, you have to tell me one thing about yourself."

"Sure." Luffy says, "Can't guarantee how long I'll be awake, though..."

"That's okay," Zoro says, "Well, ask away. What do you want to know?"

"Does losing his powers hurt?" Luffy asks.

"It... Not physically," Zoro says. He leans his head back against the tree, staring at the stars through the leaves. Normally he'd just say no, but something makes him feel like... it's fine if he shares. "It just sucks, knowing you don't have enough people who give a damn about you for you to be stable."

Luffy places a hand on Zoro's thigh, watching him look at the stars.

"I care about you." Luffy says softly. "Why can't me just caring about him make him stable?"

"One human life is only worth so much," Zoro says quietly, though... that isn't really true, is it? Zoro's been feeling the weight of one human's worth around his neck for centuries, carrying his albatross for so long the feathers have grafted into his bones to make him who he is. The weight of one human life threw his own out of balance so badly he's still left dizzied on the ground. Maybe the weight of another human life could be enough to pick him back up. He looks down a bit, but still doesn't tear his eyes from the sky. "Maybe you believing in me enough could make me stable, though. I don't know. It's not like this has happened before."

Luffy twists to face Zoro's belly, moving his hand to grip his shirt. Zoro looks lost in thought, from what Luffy can see. Like he was considering everything.

"He's not killing things around us right now." Luffy says.

Luffy looks down, at the grass. He tangles his hands in his hands in the blades, but they stay green.

"Maybe I got a new convert," Zoro mumbles.

"Maybe Zoro's got a new temple." Luffy props himself up a bit, any prospects of sleep forgotten as he watches the grass with Zoro. He shifts to place himself into Zoro's lap, tucking his head into Zoro's shoulder, uncaring for boundaries. Zoro lets him do it, hooking an arm around him.

"Maybe," Zoro says. He glances at Luffy, but returns his eyes to the sky.

"Zoro wanted to ask me questions, too." Luffy reminds gently.

"Right," Zoro says. He thinks briefly, pondering what exactly he wants to know. "What did you think of me, back before the fire?"

"I wasn't entirely sure Zoro existed," Luffy admits, "Which is why I didn't actually do any of the religious parts of helping Zoro."

Zoro barks a laugh. It seems loud, given how quiet they're being, but that isn't a bad thing.

"I guess I don't really make for a real present God, huh?" Zoro says, "Maybe that's why I've got no one."

"Maybe Zoro should've visited more. Walked around the temple more, comforted people who were sad," Luffy suggests.

"Maybe," Zoro says, "But they usually just do what you did. They cry and scream and beg me to bring people back. In the eyes of humans, I'll always be blurred by rage and tears."

Luffy can't forget it, beating at the statue and sobbing, screaming at him to give him his brothers back. He can't forget the countless people who threw things into the temple, angry and hurt that Zoro took their loved ones away.

"But that doesn't mean Zoro couldn't try," Luffy mumbles.

"I have," Zoro says, "Humans curse me all their lives, then turn around and ask me for help. No human talks to me unless they want me to give someone I've taken."

Luffy can't help but feel guilty, as that's the only reason he's out with Zoro right now. He leans heavily against Zoro, unsure of what to say.

"...Is Zoro always this sad?" Luffy asks.

"Is that your question?" Zoro mutters. He looks down to Luffy, moving one hand into Luffy's hair. "I'm afraid I can't answer that one."

Luffy snickers to himself.

"That's Zoro's way of saying yes."

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say," Zoro says.

"Okay, now Zoro asks," Luffy says. Zoro hums.

"If you weren't at my temple, what would you want to do?" Zoro asks.

"I wanted to sail," Luffy explains, "Don't know where I would go. Just wanted to explore the world."

"Like this little adventure you're on?" Zoro asks.

"Like this little adventure we're on," Luffy says, subtly correcting Zoro.

"Is it everything you hoped?" Zoro asks.

"Mm… not everything," Luffy says, "Lots less sailing. And my brothers are dead, which isn't very nice."

"Would they like to have sailed with you?" Zoro asks. Luffy nods.

"Me and my brothers had a plan-had a plan to sail together if we ever got the time. We couldn't decide on who would be captain, though."

"Can you promise me something?" Zoro asks.

"Sure. What does Zoro wanna promise?" Luffy asks.

"Once you get your brothers back, you'll go," Zoro says, "You have no temple, no place to return to, and nothing to stop you. Jinbe likes you, and your brothers will be recovering from having died. Go with them."

Luffy frowns. He touches Zoro's cheek, fingers moving to touch the dangling earrings.

"But what about you?" He asks.

"What about me?" Zoro says, "Human lives are so short. Don't spend all your time on Earth on me. You'll have plenty of time for me after you're done."

"Is that an invitation?" Luffy laughs a bit.

"Well, you have to die eventually. It's not so much an invitation as an inevitability." Zoro shrugs.

"But if I don't make another temple for Zoro, he's going to lose all his control," Luffy says.

"I can wait," Zoro says, "If you really want to make me a new temple, you can. But take some time for yourself and your family first."

"I'll have to think about it. I can't promise Zoro this stuff." Luffy says.

"Don't spend your whole life on me. I don't want you to," Zoro says. He stares pointedly to the trees, unable to look at Luffy when he continues, "I... want you to do what'll make you happy."

Luffy considers that. Something that makes him happy? He would consider adventure to make him happiest...

"Then I can just preach about Zoro when I adventure." Luffy says, "Nobody says he has to have a specific temple, right?"

"That's right," Zoro says, "So go on your adventure, got it?"

"But I'd need a crew!" Luffy protests, "Zoro, be part of my crew."

"I think I'd be a little dangerous to have on board," Zoro says.

"Why would Zoro be dangerous?"

"Sea travel is dangerous. Do you really want to invite death on board?" Zoro asks.

"Yeah, cuz then he can kill fish for us and we can eat it," Luffy says.

"Is that all you're worried about?" Zoro snickers.

"Food is important!" Luffy says, "We'd starve if Zoro didn't do that for us!"

"Somehow I think it wouldn't be worth it," Zoro mutters.

"It would be!" Luffy says, "And me and Zoro could hang out all the time."

"You actually want to hang out with me still?" Zoro asks.

"If I didn't, why would I be making the suggestion?" Luffy asks.

"I appreciate it," Zoro says. Luffy smiles, settling.

"Whose turn was it for questions? Was it mine or Zoro's?"

"Yours," Zoro says.

"Um..." Luffy thinks about it, "Why's Zoro got green hair?"

"I don't know. Why's yours black?" Zoro says.

"Cuz my dad's hair is black." Luffy says, "But Zoro wasn't born like me, so that means someone decided he should have green hair."

"I think that was just the whim of the universe," Zoro says, "No one really decided... Who knows, maybe I was meant to be the god of life? Bet I'd be a lot happier."

Luffy snickers a bit, putting a hand on Zoro's head.

"Maybe he was meant to be plants."

"Maybe!" Zoro says, leaning his head down for Luffy to touch. "Guess me and Usopp got all mixed up. He could've been death and stories. Bet he could've talked his way out of that! Certainly would have had an easier time than me, explaining death to a bunch of immortals."

"It doesn't help Zoro is god of death  _and_  violence." Luffy says as he pets Zoro's hair. "Makes him out to be a bad guy."

"What, and I'm not?" Zoro asks.

"Zoro's a good guy," Luffy says, "Everyone just says he's bad. It's not like he goes out of his way to kill people."

Zoro's silent a bit. His entire life since Merry, everyone has seemed to think him humanity's one and only villain. He is death, the one that takes away what humans love and violence, the force that corrupted the gifts of the other Gods. He's the hand pulling the strings, in the eyes of those on Earth, of every crime and cruelty. He's a demon, a monster, and without him the world could know peace. But Luffy... doesn't see it like that. Luffy sees him and smiles. It's not something Zoro is used to, or even understands. He forgot what it looked like, having someone else smile at him.

"Luffy," Zoro asks, changing the subject suddenly, "Have you ever been in love?"

"In love, huh?" Luffy repeats. He looks to the sky now, head falling back and away, stretching his neck. He digs in his memories for anyone who made him feel like that, feel love. Not like his love for Ace and Sabo, a love bound by family, but love like couples have. A love he finds he doesn't quite understand, doesn't know if he'll ever feel that.

"Nah, never." He decides, "Nobody comes to mind."

"Nobody, huh?" Zoro repeats, "Guess that makes two of us."

"Zoro never fell for any human?" Luffy asks, "Nobody he had to kill eventually?"

"No, never. Nobody would want to, first off," Zoro says, "I don't spend time on Earth. Plus, humans are so... temporary. It feels like I'd just be setting up for hurt. They'd just beg me for more time for me or for those family... I hate that, you know? It's the most obnoxious part of my job."

Luffy lifts his head, watching Zoro's face for any trace of sadness. He doesn't seem too bothered by his lack of love, mostly just a bit upset at the idea of people begging him for time, for exceptions.

"I begged Zoro for that."

"I know," Zoro says, "And I didn't want to do this, remember? I tried to talk you out of it."

"...Yeah, that's true," Luffy mumbles. He frowns. It's his turn for a question now, so... "Is Zoro mad I'm making him do this?"

"...No," Zoro says, "It's been... nice."

"Nice?" Luffy repeats.

"Nice. Traveling, seeing Earth. I've been avoiding Earth, avoiding the others..." Zoro closes his eyes. "But I saw three of them within just a few days."

"They really miss Zoro," Luffy points out, tapping his chest lightly. "He shouldn't avoid his family."

"Luffy, they hurt me bad enough I'm still feeling the effects centuries later," Zoro says, "I can't pretend it's fine. Even... Even if pretending feels nice, too. I can't."

Luffy plays with the collar of Zoro's shirt, quiet for a moment.

"...Does Zoro hate them?"

"I never hated them. I think... they never hated me, either," Zoro says, "But they needed something to blame. They were afraid. None of us thought that could happen. We didn't know if maybe we'd be next to die. They just wanted to pretend if I wasn't there, death wouldn't happen. But it always will."

"They needed something to blame?" Luffy repeats, thinking back to the creation story. "And they were scared of Zoro?"

He can only imagine it, Zoro's own family unsure if they can touch him because of his new powers. To a young God, just learning the ways of the world and himself, it must've been terrifying. Lonely.

"I don't know. I didn't see them for two hundred years after that," Zoro says. He immediately changes the topic again. "Were you?"

"Was I scared of you? No," Luffy says with confidence. "In the temple, we're taught to not be scared of Zoro. If we die while doing our jobs, then that's it. We die. I'm not exactly scared of that."

"That's good, I guess," Zoro says, "You've seemed comfortable meeting my family, too... it's commendable. Most humans aren't so calm."

"Zoro's the first person to ever call me calm." Luffy laughs.

"Am I?" Zoro says, "Well, compared to the other humans I meet, you are."

"Zoro makes me calm," Luffy says, "He's nice like that."

"I... Thank you, then. That's sweet," Zoro says. Luffy smiles and nods, feeling the hesitation in Zoro's voice, like he's unsure if Luffy's telling him the truth. It makes Luffy feel bad, feel sorry for Zoro who seems to have gotten the short end of the God stick.

"I have another question, Zoro!"

"Fire away," Zoro says. Luffy considers his words for a moment, legs sliding against the ground to sit himself up more.

"Why don't you have another domain?"

"A third one, like the others?" Zoro asks, "Couldn't tell you. We all just sort of... answer a pull."

"Zoro's never felt any sort of other pull?" Luffy asks, "maybe he's the God of wrong directions."

"Very funny," Zoro says, "No, I haven't felt any other pull. Maybe I'm bad luck."

"Maybe!" Luffy laughs, "But Zoro's got two bad ones already. Shouldn't he get a good one now?"

"I don't think I'm getting another one," Zoro says.

"It has been a lot of years, huh..." Luffy hums. "But he could still get one."

"I doubt it," Zoro says, "What else is there for me?"

"Zoro's the god of...green hair." Luffy says

"Kind of... boring," Zoro says.

"Yeah..." Luffy considers more options, "The God of being… Zoro…"

"Even worse," Zoro says.

"I can't think of anything! Sanji already the God of food, the best thing."

"I don't know what to tell you," Zoro says. Luffy huffs, then yawns widely.

"Zoro's got more questions?"

"Here's one: Shouldn't you go to bed?" Zoro asks.

"Maybe," Luffy laughs. "I'm sleepy."

"Go to bed. I'll be here tomorrow," Zoro says.

"I know Zoro will be." Luffy says with confidence, shifting a bit, waiting for Zoro to push him off.

"So go to bed," Zoro says. He doesn't push Luffy away, though.

Luffy blinks at Zoro, waiting.

"...Is Zoro gonna let me sleep on him?"

"...Am I not supposed to?" Zoro asks.

"No, Zoro's just… never let me before," Luffy says.

"You've never tried," Zoro says.

"I guess that's true!" Luffy laughs, "Zoro just gave off a vibe of not wanting to be touched."

"I don't," Zoro says, "But... this is okay."

Luffy closes his eyes and leans his head back against Zoro's shoulder.

"Then I'm gonna go to bed."

"Night, Luffy," Zoro says. He watches Luffy nod off, fond. He enjoys Luffy's company, far more than he ever imagined he would. He could never understand why his family would spend time with humans, with how fleeting their lives are—don't they just set themselves up for pain?—but with Luffy here, he understands. Luffy makes him happy, even if it will only be for a short while. Zoro couldn't ever have expected himself to grow so fond of Luffy. In such a short amount of time, too. It's a feeling impossible to predict, much like Luffy is, so he supposes that it makes sense that this just snuck up on him.

Zoro leans back, Luffy going with him, and truly relaxes for the first time in a long time. Luffy's a good weight on him, keeping him grounded. Luffy mumbles something incoherent in his sleep, and Zoro swells with a feeling unfamiliar. He runs a hand through Luffy's hair, quiet, and lets himself feel whatever it is running through him. He's sure it's Luffy's doing. He feels good, so it must be Luffy.

He stays that way for quite some time, just holding Luffy and petting his hair, listening to him snore. Zoro finds that he wants to keep it this way, keep Luffy happy and safe. Keep him from death. The irony isn't lost on Zoro. He can't protect Luffy from himself, but he wants to. Maybe it's some kind of twisted poetic justice, that Death himself should one day endure the same pain he inflicts on everyone else. But he wants to keep Luffy from feeling that pain, of death and violence. But he can't. He can't keep Luffy safe, because in the end, his presence will be Luffy's undoing.

There's something about that, too, something Zoro has noticed before. Although he can see everyone's cause of death, he can't see Luffy's. It's blurred, like something's blocking him from seeing. Zoro wonders if it's him, saving himself from facing the truth, but the concept is foreign to him. Zoro decides he won't look. If he doesn't know when or how Luffy will die, he can focus on caring for Luffy as if it could happen at any moment. He can treat every day like it's Luffy's last, because no matter how long Luffy lives... death will always seem too soon to Zoro.

He holds Luffy close to himself, holding onto him like a vice, and instantly feels a bit awkward about it for the fact they are alone out here and he's just clinging onto Luffy as a desperate attempt to feel connected to something.

Zoro loosens his hold some, only for Luffy to shift to get closer. Maybe... Zoro doesn't just have to "attempt" anything. Maybe he really is connected to something.

Zoro looks up again, to the stars. He can feel Luffy's breath on his neck, but it doesn't bother him. Gods like Zoro don't breathe; there's no rise and fall in his chest the way Luffy has. Zoro isn't even sure if his heart works, though with Luffy against him, he feels like it might. He feels like he might be feeling love.

As soon as he thinks it, he's worried Brook may materialize into their little camping spot with something about singing a song to celebrate the momentous occasion. Or maybe he'd crack one of those stupid jokes he always liked so much. Love...of course he couldn't tell Luffy that. Or his brothers. That would be foolish of him.

Zoro sits in silence as the night goes on, enjoying the feeling he's got now, watching stars across the night sky. It's nice, being with Luffy. Zoro wishes he could stay traveling with Luffy forever... Maybe that sailing thing wouldn't be so bad. Watching the open air, Zoro can nearly imagine floating on the dark sea. He could spend eternity like that, he thinks. He wouldn't be death, or violence. Just a member of Luffy's crew, rediscovering the Earth he's long since forgotten.

Zoro watches the sunrise for the first time in centuries through a break in the trees, and he thinks for once he might just be truly happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lew: fun fact! Vivi wasnt part of the pantheon in our original plans! she was added at some point in this chapter, and we edited her into the earlier parts of the fic! cant forget everyone's favorite honorary strawhat!


	4. Fear, Family, Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A stop in the city of Ohara and a dance in the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lew: i tried to publish this on wednesday, spent over an hour editing, and then my computer crashed and my work was deleted. so then i kinda stared sadly at the doc and decided i could do it later that day. AND THEN... i forgot. so now it's late. but hey... i tried.  
> thanks to my friend jess for editing also. she said she cried during this one, so have fun lmao (its talking abt character death, so kind of character death / suicide tw. sort of? so be warned)

Zoro's stellar mood doesn't last. The next few days are spent walking-and that's it. Step after step after step, going up hills and then back down, making for a lot of complaining on Luffy's end. His sandals rip, and by the fifth time Zoro's trying to repair them, he just chucks them. Luffy grumbles even more with that, even if he doesn't  _mind_ being barefoot, he keeps stepping on rocks.

The mood is considerably lower since Zoro is manhandling the map, insisting he knows exactly where he is, and even though it clearly shows they're not going the right way, he doesn't seem to care. Luffy calls him an idiot more times than Zoro can count but he doesn't exactly care. They're both frustrated and tired, ready to see a town.

In the afternoon, Zoro finds a town. He can't see the buildings, but the dead giveaway is a large tree, looming over the people below. He'd recognize it anywhere, thriving for so long since he was first created, untouched by him. Robin calls it her tree of knowledge, but most people know it as the tree of Ohara. He pushes Luffy forward toward the town, and the entrance is hard to miss. It's one of the most technologically advanced towns, blessed by both Robin and Franky, and its where they like to visit the most, being one of the first established as well. In a quick summary, Zoro would just call it old as shit. The buildings are intimidatingly large, a scholar's university and large library sitting within the central tree, the town built around it. The people are lively and kind-almost all of them with books in their hands. Robin and Franky have several statues built for them in various locations around, even little markings on the shops of their blessings, and their love story is boasted throughout many books.

Zoro inwardly wonders why they aren't the gods of love together, but passes it by when Luffy curses to himself for stepping on yet another stone as they pass into the streets-Zoro mostly aiming to get some food for his much more vocal companion. Luffy tugs Zoro's arm as Zoro guides him to a restaurant.

"Hey, this is Zoro's parents, right? Think we'll see them?" Luffy asks.

"We probably will," Zoro admits, pushing Luffy toward a bar that looked cheap enough to let him use up the last of his human money before having to make a quick stop and grab some more from his temple, "They probably know I'm here, so I wouldn't be surprised. They're also nosy as fuck."

"I'm excited to meet them. I wanna meet Zoro's parents!" Luffy says, loud enough to get the attention of numerous other patrons. "What's Zoro got his head in his hands for?"

"Lower your voice," Zoro grumbles, running a hand through his hair. He slides the menu over to Luffy, "And order some food."

"Right!" Luffy says, reading the menu. Zoro isn't convinced that he will be able to afford Luffy's appetite, but if it comes to that, he'll... handle it.

He really thinks they should do something about the way humans handle shit. Why do they have to pay for so much? Why is there so much money? Whatever happened to just trading items? Zoro rests his chin in his hand now, looking behind the bar. He wanted a drink, badly, but to order one would most likely put them over. Zoro absently draws a circle on the table, wondering if he could open a small portal and pull from his stash at home...

"Zoro looks lost in thought," Luffy notes, around a mouthful of food. "What's up?"

Zoro quickly shuts down those ideas. Luffy'll probably yell about it.

"Nothing. Just considering visiting the temple-I think they have a temple here." Zoro is suddenly not so sure about that, as usually temples are advertised or at the center of the town for such loved Gods.

"I want to visit!" Luffy says. As he cheers, a waiter brings Luffy another plate. Clearly, Luffy ordered seconds while Zoro was distracted... Damnit. "What's Zoro look so upset for? I ordered a drink for him, too."

"...Thanks, Luffy." Zoro can't find it in him to snap at Luffy, taking the drink. "Admittedly, we're out of money. But we'll make it somehow, I guess."

"Zoro should kill the owner," Luffy says, "We'll escape in the chaos."

"Wh-Luffy. I'm not killing the fucking owner for us to eat and run. We could just eat and run." Zoro says.

"That'll work. We can make a break for it once we're done," Luffy stage whispers to Zoro, grinning. Zoro grins back at Luffy, fully ready to brace himself to make it out the door. There's a sharp click of heels behind them, Zoro catching them last minute, and suddenly a hand on one side of him.

"Now, Now. I don't think I ever raised you to eat and run." A voice says sweetly, her nails rapping against the countertop. "That's quite rude, no?"

"Oh! You're Robin?" Luffy says, not hearing the scolding tone.

"Yes, I am." Robin smiles and slides into the seat next to Zoro. "I felt you both as soon as you stepped foot into my town."

"I wanted to meet Zoro's mom," Luffy says, in a good mood. "Sabo likes you a lot!"

"Sabo?" Robin smiles, "Your brother, yes?"

"My brother!" Luffy says, cheerful, "He's the smartest out of the three of us."

"I've heard of him. I've got eyes on all the temples, after all." Robin says calmly, "Shame what happened."

"But I'm gonna get them back," Luffy says, nodding. Robin looks to Zoro now, who's ignoring her.

"Is he now?" She asks.

"He is," Zoro says, staring at the wall he's now trapped into.

"How kind of you, Zoro." Robin taps her nails against the countertop once again, smiling at him, "Helping out Luffy like this. I didn't know you were so in touch with humans."

"Luffy's a special case," Zoro mutters.

"I know he is." Robin says, "We'd like you to come back to the tree after this, so we could talk."

"We...?" Zoro asks.

"...Who else do you think I'm talking about, Zoro?" Robin questions, "I'm talking about Franky."

"Right," Zoro mutters, "Just trying to figure out how many of you I'm dealing with."

"Your attitude is as bad as ever." Robin smiles anyway, resting her chin in her hand. "Luffy, order whatever you want and however much you want. I'll be paying."

"Thanks, Robin!" Luffy says, cheerful. He looks to Zoro, "She's the best."

"She… she's okay." Zoro grouches.

"He's never been a happy child." Robin comments, patting Zoro's head.

"I'm trying to make him happy, though," Luffy says, confident, "We're gonna travel the world once we're done. Zoro didn't agree to that, but he will."

"You seem confident." Robin observes, "I'm sure he will."

Zoro doesn't comment. He's already finished his drink, but he swirls around the few drops left at the bottom so he doesn't have to acknowledge the conversation.

"I want to see Sanji's temple, try some of his food!" Luffy says. He pushes the empty plates away from himself, satisfied. "Let's go see Franky."

"Sanji's temple is quite a bit away from here. He even has one floating out on the ocean." Robin says, "Franky would love to meet you. He hasn't stopped talking about you."

"Really?" Luffy asks. He stands, looking to Zoro. "Let's go fast, then."

"Do we have to?" Zoro groans.

"Yes," Luffy says. In a better mood now, he waits for Zoro to stand before hooking his arm in Zoro's. Even still missing shoes, Luffy seems his cheerful self again. Zoro... does not share his enthusiasm. Zoro would do anything to avoid going to see both his parents at once again. Especially given one of them can literally smell fear.

Speaking of her, Robin pays as they leave, giving a generous tip.

"Luffy, don't your feet hurt?" She asks, watching him walk, "I can't imagine you enjoy that."

"I don't," Luffy says, "But my shoes fell apart. They were meant for temple floors, not forests and hiking."

"Then we'll get you some new ones." Robin decides, turning down a street to head to the stores. "Pick anything you'd like."

Luffy tugs Zoro with him into the store, looking around. Luffy's hometown was small and blessed by no one, so they had nothing like the stores of this small city. They also had none of the technology this place has, being under the combined blessing of Franky's mechanics and Robin's knowledge. Ohara is supposedly one of the first cities on Earth, and in its center is a large tree. Sabo once told Luffy that, according to legend, the tree was the first house of the Gods on Earth. Old and impressive, the city has flourished under its branches, and its roots reach far under the Earth, spreading Ohara's influence.

Luffy wants to run around, looking at everything, but before he can do that... he needs to focus on shoes.

"I'm gonna get these." Luffy drops Zoro's arm to grab a pair, showing them off.

"Those are identical to the ones you just ruined. The ones that I was fixing daily," Zoro says "Why would you...?"

"If he likes them, he can get them," Robin comments from behind them, just following. "No harm done."

"Except to his feet, which I spend all day patching up," Zoro says.

"Then Franky can do something to them to reinforce them." Robin waves a hand.

"My feet?" Luffy asks.

"No," Robin chuckles, "To the sandals, so they don't break as much."

"Oh. That works, too," Luffy says. He puts the shoes on, then links his arm with Zoro again to wait for Robin to pay. She does, then leads Zoro and Luffy toward the tree.

"No, this place is nice," Robin says. She leads Luffy and Zoro up to the entrance, both watching it closely, albeit for different reasons.

Luffy is just amazed with everything, trying to take it all in, but Zoro is just watching for what's changed. The tree is somewhere he saw a lot of when the world was new, and... seeing how it's changed so much is kind of upsetting. Sure, things felt the same when he saw Nami, but when he watches here... It's clear how little of this he still knows. The tree is taller and thicker than the last time he saw it by centuries of blessed growth, and Zoro can only marvel. When they approach he looks for a spot where he carved his name many, many hundreds of years ago into the bark. It isn't where he left it, the trunk having grown. Maybe someone scratched it out.

"I see you guys haven't moved in... quite literally forever." Zoro says, staring at the large tree.

Robin leads them up another side of the tree, a staircase to the top where her Home is with Franky.

"I often teach the humans here." She explains to Luffy, "so we've built a school and library into the tree. Everything at the top is from the gods Home, though. It's where Zoro lived before his domain."

"Zoro grew up here?" Luffy asks, looking to Zoro. He's focused elsewhere. "It must've been nice."

"I did." Zoro answers, still looking in the distance.

"I'm not sure I'd call it growing up." Robin jokes, "No gods are born as children."

"Then..." Luffy says, "I dunno. It's his hometown?"

"His home, yes." Robin runs her hand on the walls of the tree, feeling the bark under her hands. "Nami, Sanji, and Usopp, as well."

"Did Chopper?" Luffy asks, "Though he's younger..."

"He appeared after we all made the Earth, but we still worked to raise him as well. Zoro helped a lot with taking care of Chopper when he lived here" Robin says.

"I wanna meet him, too!" Luffy says.

"Luffy, you're obviously going to meet him," Zoro says, "Remember? The whole goal of our little adventure?"

"Yeah, well I'm excited," Luffy says, "I'm excited to meet Franky, too."

"Franky is very excited to meet you as well." She comes to a door and places her hand on it, letting it open with some magic that only Gods have. Inside is a cozy little home, and a very large man sitting inside of it.

Franky gets up, walking over. He's both tall and broad, so when he stands in front of Luffy, Luffy needs to look up to see him.

"Hi," Luffy says, a bit surprised. Zoro seems pretty normal, so it's easy to forget how much larger than life Gods can be. Franky puts a hand on Luffy's shoulder.

"So," Franky says, serious. He suddenly pulls Luffy into a hug. "It's great to meet you, Luffy!"

Luffy is caught off guard by the hug, but beams when he realizes what's happening.

"Hi!" Luffy exclaims, "You're Franky?"

"The one and only!" Franky says, letting him go. He pats Zoro's shoulder, knowing Zoro isn't one who enjoys hugs. "Zoro, you're back! We've been waiting for you."

"Hi." Zoro grumbles, avoiding eye contact. Franky was ALWAYS this welcoming to those he considered family, and it looks like Luffy was no exception.

"So you've finally brought a boy home, huh?" Franky asks, moving to lead Luffy and Zoro back to the heart of the room. It's more advanced than even the already far ahead town, but Zoro doesn't have time to admire the comfortable seats or stylish interior because he abruptly chokes on the air at Franky's words. "First of your siblings to exist, last one to bring someone home. Not that there's anything wrong with that, you should take your time. Not everyone can find someone made for them by the universe as quickly as we did!"

Zoro all but locks up, staring with wide eyes. Some flowers hanging from the ceiling abruptly die, practically exploding instead of wilting. Franky seems unbothered, used to it, while Robin mumbles an "oh, my.." as she picks up a destroyed petal.

"I—What?!" Zoro demands, "He's—no, he's not—! That's… Wait, the fuck do you mean I'm the last?!"

"Well, Sanji and Usopp brought home partners already," Franky says, "And obviously Nami brought Vivi home before. You're the last. But it was worth the wait! He seems like a great guy, from what we've seen."

"Sanji?! Who the fuck is Sanji with?!" Zoro looks shocked, confused, and now embarrassed. "Luffy isn't my partner! I'm just escorting him!"

"Zoro and I aren't dating." Luffy laughs, but for some reason, it irks him how violently Zoro denies it.

"Oh, you're not?" Robin picks up pieces of the now cracked flower pot. "Brook's going to be so sad."

"He's got nothing to be sad about," Zoro mutters, folding his arms as though a child. It's hard to remember he's the God of death and not a high schooler being teased by his embarrassing parents.

"You know him," Robin hums, moving to sit next to Franky and patting his shoulder. "Perhaps another day he will, Franky."

Luffy pulls Zoro over to sit on the couch, Zoro's arms folded and his eyes on the floor in front of him. His face is a little redder than usual still, but Luffy doesn't notice. Robin does.

"They're off to go revive his brothers." Robin informs Franky, "Luffy has gotten very close to all our children, however."

"Not all of them," Zoro mutters, sobering up a bit. "He isn't all that close to Sanji."

"Right." Robin says, "He hasn't met him yet, but he speaks so fondly of him already."

"They've never met," Zoro confirms, "Though it would be best if they didn't."

"Because of Luffy's love of food?" Robin narrows her eyes. "Or something else?"

"...Something else," Zoro says, "Luffy doesn't like fire."

"Oh, I see." Robin tilts her head slightly, looking at Luffy. Being the Goddess of knowledge, and having eyes on all her children, she can understand why. "What a shame, then. Sanji would've loved to meet him."

"I'm sure," Zoro mutters. He doesn't look happy about talking about Sanji. Luffy leans over against Zoro on the seat, resting his head against Zoro's shoulder. Franky laughs, bright and loud.

"That's alright! We all have things we're scared of. Maybe you could ask the kid to just not use that fire gift he was given. You know he only uses it on his legs anyhow."

"Right," Zoro says. He doesn't want to tell them he has a strong suspicion Sanji killed Luffy's family with Luffy here, so he just accepts it.

"Speaking of fear, Zoro..." Robin says, "We need to talk."

"Fear?" Luffy looks up at Zoro, "Is Zoro scared of something?"

"I'm n—" Zoro starts.

"Returning home," Robin says.

"Ohh, yeah. That's a big one." Franky nods.

"Zoro's afraid of returning home?" Luffy repeats, resting his chin on Zoro's shoulder. "He wants to go home?"

"What's there for me to go home for?" Zoro mutters, not looking at any of them.

"There's plenty for you to go home for." Robin crosses her legs, folding her hands into her lap and leveling him with a no-nonsense gaze. "But you've become scared because of how long it's been."

Zoro is silent, but he feels Luffy's hand move to his wrist, as if seeking to hold his hand for comfort. Zoro sighs, closing his eyes. Luffy makes him feel better, at least. Luffy makes him feel like he shouldn't have to be alone.

"...So what?" Zoro mumbles, finally. He's staring at the wall, almost inaudible.

"So, it's important to us for you to come home. Especially now that your powers are depleting." Robin replies.

"Alright," Zoro mutters. Luffy runs a hand on Zoro's arm, and Zoro thinks of how little he wants to be alone after this. "Alright. Okay. Let's pretend I go back today. What then?"

"Then you'd stay here, with Franky and I." Robin explains, "Until we find you another temple, another place to stay. Eventually we'll repair one of the abandoned ones once you have more devotees. Usopp, I believe, is working to clear your name as well."

"...He is?" Zoro asks, looking up. He wasn't actually sure if Usopp would do it... Then again, Usopp is bravery. When it matters, he really can be counted on. "How is it...?"

"How is it going?" Robin finishes, "I would assume it's not working too well, considering an emotional outburst killed one of my favorite flowers."

Zoro nods.

"Right. I could have guessed," Zoro says.

"But that doesn't mean it won't work later." Robin points out, "It will take some time to pass through all of the humans, but he's working on it."

"Right, yeah. So let's say it works tomorrow. Then what?" Zoro says "Do I even..."

"Do you even what?" Robin responds, "You have to use your words, Zoro."

Zoro takes an extended pause. He doesn't know how to say this. The words themselves aren't the issue, but saying them...

He's spent his whole life hiding his hurt and his fear behind anger, behind violence. He fought against his family, avoided them, avoided talking. After all, what was the point of speaking if he knew no one would ever listen? It's been so long he's almost forgotten how.

"Come on, Zoro," Luffy whispers, looking down to his hand on Zoro's wrist. He sneaks his fingers into Zoro's, holding tight. "We can both get our families back."

Zoro looks to Luffy. That's what this is, isn't it? Luffy's quest to return his family has become Zoro's, too, hasn't it? Whether Zoro was aware of it or not, they've been walking the same path this entire time. Luffy's been helping him just as much as he's been helping Luffy, just by being by his side and reminding him how much he needs someone by his side. They can both get their families back.

Zoro looks to Robin and Franky.

"Say I come back," Zoro says, "Would it even be possible to? Do I even know any of you anymore?"

"It's possible, yes." Robin says. "On both of our ends, it would just have to be getting to know each other again. Seeing what's changed but not allowing that fear to stop us."

Zoro looks down at the table between them. Now that it's down, he can't help but continue, just wanting someone to listen.

"And then?" Zoro says. He's spent centuries being told how horrible he is, how he doesn't deserve love or forgiveness, how the Earth would have been better without him. "What if we get to know each other again, and know how we've changed, and none of you like who I am now?"

Robin is quiet. It's strange, seeing Zoro like this. Acting like he's changed, when before her is the same Zoro she's seen many times before. When he first came to be, so unsure and feeling down on himself. The last time she had such a conversation with him was when all his siblings had their domains and he had none, just flying after them, trying to force his out.

"We're your family, Zoro." She answers at last. "We've made many mistakes, too blinded by our emotions. Does it seem like anyone you've come across this far doesn't like how you are?"

"No," Zoro says, "But I barely know any of them anymore. How would I know what they actually think?"

"Then what's the harm in coming back?" Luffy pipes up, "Zoro doesn't know what they think. He thinks they're thinking bad things, but if he doesn't know, then couldn't they be thinking really great things about him?"

Zoro looks over.

"Your brothers think the world of you, what do you know about winning over your family?" Zoro says. There's none of the normal anger you'd expect from him, though.

"I'm saying, maybe Zoro's already won them over." Luffy frowns at him, "Why would they even be trying to get you back in the first place?"

"Zoro, you're our family. You always have been. Let us fix things," Franky says, "You shouldn't have to keep going on your own when we're still here for you."

Luffy nods eagerly. "Zoro should stop being alone so much! It won't get him anywhere! Besides, I won't be around forever."

"Luffy has to die eventually," Robin says. Zoro tightens his hold on Luffy's hand abruptly, the reminder that human life is as fragile as glass is a slap to the face at this point. Especially with Luffy.

"...He'll still be living in my temple when he's dead." He points out, muttering.

"But Zoro shouldn't be stuck in his temple forever," Luffy says. Zoro doesn't respond, not liking how all the eyes in the room are on him, waiting for his decision.

"Zoro should at least try," Luffy says, squeezing Zoro's hand. "At least once? When Ace and Sabo are back, Zoro can do it while I'm busy sailing. I'll go around and help rebuild his temple."

Zoro looks at Luffy, shoulders slumping a bit. "Could I? Could I return?"

"You can," Franky says, "If talking to Chopper goes well, come see us."

"...I will." Zoro decides. His family has finally extended him the olive branch he's asked for all this time. Now all he has to do is take it. "if not to come back, then… we could talk this over more."

Franky grins and Robin smiles. This isn't done, but it's a start. After everything they've all put Zoro through, one chance to make things right by him is all they could ask for.

"We can hardly wait," Robin says, "Thank you for considering it, Zoro."

Franky, nowhere near as restrained, gets up and vaults the table to pull both Zoro and Luffy into a hug.

"Franky!" Zoro grouches, struggling against his hug while Luffy clings on happily.

Franky releases him, letting them both back to the couch.

"It's just super great to have you back!" Franky says

"You don't know I'm coming back yet!" Zoro says, "Don't do that!"

"Can't I be excited I get to see you again?" Franky asks.

"You don't have to hug me," Zoro says.

"Zoro isn't touchy," Luffy says, though he's in the process of settling down comfortably again pressed against Zoro.

"We know," Robin says, not very touchy herself. Just like Zoro, she has exceptions to her rule.

"Guess he hasn't changed," Luffy says, teasing Zoro a bit, poking his arm. Zoro brushes Luffy's hand off, leaning back in the seat.

"Then I guess I'll have nothing to worry about."

"That's what I'm trying to tell Zoro!" Luffy says. Robin smiles a bit, watching.

"You two may leave now, if you'd like," Robin says, "But this home is always open for the both of you, especially if you'd like to stay the night."

"Alright, alright," Zoro says. His siblings and him used to have rooms of their own, but he's not sure his would still exist. They tried to erase any proof they knew him after Merry's death. Speaking of...

Zoro should probably tell Luffy the truth now, especially if other humans are starting to learn. Zoro's worried about being rejected for the story again, having his truth ignored, but he knows Luffy is someone he can trust. If Luffy will believe him, maybe everyone else will, too. Luffy smiles as Robin stands, leading them over to another door that led further up the tree.

"Zoro's room is the one at the very top," She explains, "It's probably rather dusty, though."

Zoro seems surprised, but stands.

"Come on. I'll show it to you," Zoro says. Luffy stands as well, heading to the door without Zoro's lead.

"I bet it's filled with embarrassing stuff!" Luffy jokes, "Or maybe old stuff? Since Zoro's old?"

"I don't remember, honestly," Zoro says. He originally modeled his temple after here, but now he doesn't know what it looks like. Luffy hops up the steps, passing other doors that looked old and worn. He eventually comes to one at the top and throws it open.

"Woah! Lots of vines." Luffy blurts, pushing past a branch in front of the door, growing into the room.

"And dust," Zoro mutters, following him in. The room is small but well kept. The furniture, which should have rotted long ago, is visible taken care of and refurbished as though fixed repeatedly.

"Zoro's got such a tiny bed!" Luffy laughs loudly, hopping into it.

"I used to nap a lot. I don't think I've slept in centuries, though," Zoro says.

"Zoro should nap again." Luffy says.

"Why?" Zoro asks.

"Hmm..." Luffy thinks about his answer, "I dunno, it just makes you refreshed? Doesn't Zoro get sleepy?"

"Not really," Zoro says, "Plus, I doubt we're both gonna fit on that bed."

Luffy scoots over to the wall, patting next to him.

"Try new things."

"That's not new. I've slept before," Zoro says, but he sits down on the edge. He needs to tell Luffy about Merry, but he doesn't know how to even start. Luffy puts his hand on Zoro's back, sliding it up as he sits up and rests his chin on Zoro's shoulder.

"...Thanks," Zoro mumbles, "You helped back there."

"Zoro really was scared, Huh?" Luffy says.

"I guess," Zoro mutters. Luffy sits up to rubs Zoro's shoulders, squeezing them.

"Zoro guesses?"

"I don't know," Zoro mutters. He has his back to Luffy, looking down at the floor. "Luffy, can I tell you something?"

Luffy nods, messing with Zoro's sleeve. "Always!"

"I wanted to tell you about Merry," Zoro says. He tells himself that if Luffy believes him, then maybe everything else can get better. "The truth."

"I didn't know there was a real Merry story." Luffy says, "I thought I knew it already."

"There's a different story, but only the Gods know it," Zoro says, "But I want you to know it."

Luffy nods, grabbing into Zoro's shirt. His silence is cue for Zoro to tell his truth, and so Zoro does

Zoro begins by describing the Earth and Merry how it first was. A time where they had this vast, growing world and only one human to protect. She was all theirs, and they loved her. Merry was special, she was new, and she had nothing the Gods did.

There was one thing she always wanted to do, one thing all the gods could: fly.

Merry loved and was loved by all of them. She was closer, though, to the youngest Gods. Of course she cared for Chopper, the God who suggested humanity. She also cared for Nami and Sanji, friends she spent so much time with. Sanji cooked her wonderful foods, testing new things for her to try with what was available. Sanji even created fire to keep her warm in the night. Nami kept the winds to her back to make sure she was always going where she needed to. Merry also spent time with Vivi, the two finding themselves on secret adventures. She was close to Zoro, too, relaxing often in the sunshine with him or hanging out with him as he tried to figure out his powers, suggesting things he could try training with. And, of course, Merry was close to Usopp. He would tell her stories about the Earth, and though often they were fiction, she loved them. She wanted to imagine every word she heard was true, that there were wonderful creatures and amazing feats all over the world. She even joked to Zoro, her friend without domain, that if she were a God she would like to be that of adventure. But she was not a God, and she knew it.

The story Merry asked to hear most often was Usopp's story about how the Gods felt when they flew. Every time Usopp told it, the story became more and more exciting, and unbeknown to everyone else, Merry decided she, too, could fly. She had never tried, but perhaps if she could get high enough, she would be like the others. All of them answered a calling and became Gods. Merry would answer the call to adventure she felt deep inside, and she too would fly. This was what she was meant for.

Late at night one night, Merry slipped out of the place in which her family lived for the final time. She climbed all through the night and into the next morning, to the tallest mountain. Named Skypiea, the jagged mountain cut into pieces any cloud unfortunate enough to drift into it. Merry knew the Gods often came here, though she was forbidden. They were making themselves a place to live, all of them with temples up in the sky. She would have one too, she knew it. She would fly from here and be a God, and she could stay with the others forever.

Zoro felt a pull, early the next morning. He got out of bed and walked, aimlessly but with purpose. There was somewhere he needed to be, though he didn't know why he needed to be there. He walked a while up the mountain, to a steep cliff face. He'd been here before, but why was he here now? Zoro considered turning around, heading home, but then he saw something. At the bottom of the cliff was Merry, bent at an angle that she almost appeared to be broken in half. She suffered the first mortal wound, something no human would survive, and Zoro understood his calling.

Merry died early in the morning. Zoro closed Merry's eyes, then gently lifted her up. When he did, he met her soul. She stood, confused, in front of him, and they talked. No Afterlife existed yet, not really. She had nowhere to go, but she knew she couldn't return to her body. She told Zoro what she had done, how she had only wanted to fly, and he listened.

The first soul did not go to Afterlife. The Gods, after all, came from the sky. They came from the universe, and so to the universe, Merry returned. This left Zoro with a body, and a story.

No one wanted to believe Zoro. Usopp, when faced with the idea his own bragging about flying may have killed such a dear friend, ran. He pointed the blame to Zoro, saying Zoro lied, he was jealous. The other Gods, devastated and confused, did not want to understand Death. They did not want to think they too might die, either. They took Merry from Zoro, and they took Zoro's home from Zoro, and they took Zoro's family from Zoro, and suddenly Zoro was lost. He had nothing, no place and no family, and he was devastated. He roamed the world, looking for something new but suddenly things around him began to die. He tried to approach animals, but they died when he got to close. Trees cracked and lost leaves if he sat under them to rest. Flowers wilted in his presence. He was alone, more alone than any other being.

After years of this, Zoro gave up. He chose a spot to sit and did not move. He sat and let the things around him die until he found himself in the center of a wasteland where nothing could grow. Zoro stayed there for nearly a decade. He slept through most of it. As he stayed, the first winter brewed around him. With no humans to help him control his power, he couldn't do anything. However, being stationary never helped. Things everywhere began to die.

It would take his family a century to acknowledge that they'd wronged him by ignoring him, but the damage was done. Zoro knew what loneliness was better than anything in the universe.

As the years went by, the humans being created, Zoro only then found purpose. Purpose within leading the lost souls as he lead Merry, something to make himself feel less… lost.

Everyone Zoro met disliked him. He met people only for them to leave his life moments later. He no longer killed everything just by being around them, but avoided Earth to avoid his family. He was afraid of them, was afraid of what they thought of him now. Over the next few centuries, Zoro did everything he could to avoid those who had once loved him—those who had broken his heart, the heart which had loved them so much, the heart which still loved them more than anything. He didn't want to return to find they loved him any less than they once did. He hurt for centuries, his body and soul aching with the weight of his solitude, but at least the pain is familiar. His longest standing friendship was the dull pain of a chest torn to shreds by the jagged shards of a lonely and broken heart. As much as it hurt, he knew how to deal with and ignore it. He didn't know how to deal with whatever happened when he went home.

And then, suddenly, there was Luffy. A golden sun to light the way and lead Zoro from his centuries alone in the dark.

Luffy presses his forehead into Zoro's back, hands squeezing his shoulders. The actual story is so much harder to hear, especially from Zoro. Zoro feels Luffy's touch on his back and turns around to face Luffy. Luffy only moves to press his forehead into Zoro's chest instead, wrapping his arms around Zoro's waist. Zoro takes a second before hugging Luffy back, taking comfort in him.

"...Do you believe me?" Zoro asks, loosely twisting his fingers onto the fabric of the cloak Luffy still wears on his back.

"I believe you." Luffy nods, squeezing him around the waist. "I believe Zoro. He didn't kill Merry."

"Thank you," Zoro mutters. He's spent a long time believing Merry's death was all his fault, hearing not only that Luffy believes him, but that Luffy thinks he didn't even kill her... Zoro almost likes to think it.

Luffy holds Zoro tightly, feeling the way he clutches at the cloak. The way his body seems lined with insecurity, it makes Luffy practically forget Zoro is a God, with how human he seems to act. Fingertips sliding up his back, Luffy positions his hands to Zoro's shoulders, lifting his head to look at him.

"You don't have to be alone anymore." Luffy tells him, "I'm with you."

"Thank you," Zoro says again. He forgets Luffy is mortal and their time is finite, just for a moment. He wants to pretend he could have Luffy forever.

Luffy rests his chin back onto Zoro's shoulder, sitting with him, processing the information he was given. Thinking about what they're out here for, how they've come together like this, and there is only one thing on his mind.

"Zoro, why didn't you try to revive Merry?" Luffy asks, "Couldn't you have, like we're going to revive my brothers?"

"I knew she had to die, but as time went on, I thought maybe they could forgive me if I brought her back, but Merry wasn't like others. Other souls go to the Afterlife when they die, but she didn't. She was harder to reach," Zoro says, "It was the first time I spoke to Chopper in over fifty years, and the only time I've seen him since Merry's death. I told him what I wanted to do and he said he could help me, but when we tried, something went wrong. She couldn't be brought back. I only hurt her more. Chopper, too."

"...Oh." Luffy says. A part of him aches, sad that Zoro's attempt was failed, but another part of him thrums with the selfish pleasure that his brothers would be the first and only to be revived.

"I don't know it's even possible to revive someone. You know that, right?" Zoro asks, pulling back from Luffy. "You could destroy your brothers. Their souls can still watch over you like this, can exist for millennia. But if you fail..."

"Then they'll be gone forever." Luffy finishes for Zoro, steeling himself. "I know that, Zoro! But I can't not try when there's an option to save them. I'll do anything. I'll give myself up if I have to."

"But you're not. You're giving them up," Zoro says, pulling back to look at Luffy. "It's not really you on the line."

Luffy grapples onto Zoro's forearms, gripping them tightly.

"I'm getting them back, Zoro." He says seriously, ignoring the threat hanging over his head of permanently losing his brothers, "I'm going to get them back."

Zoro knows Luffy didn't actually listen to anything Zoro just told him about the possibility of them truly being gone and sighs.

"I know," Zoro says. It's not like he can blame Luffy. He understands Luffy's desperate loneliness, too. Zoro spent the first years after Merry died traveling the Earth, trying to find some creature who would take pity in him and give him their time. Luffy looks less serious once Zoro finally agrees with him, nodding.

"Good. I'm glad Zoro understands."

Zoro watches Luffy a moment. He's known since the beginning that the only reason Luffy is doing this is because he doesn't want to be alone, that the idea of being alone scares Luffy more than anything.

"If this fails, you really will be alone, you know. And remember, you can only revive Ace and Sabo. Each living person is only allowed to revive one person, and I'm only allowed to revive one person. The dead don't get to revive anyone. If you mess up on both of them, you don't get another chance," Zoro says. Luffy looks down, frowning once again. He knows Zoro's trying to let him down as easily as possible, but he can't help but feel like Zoro's trying to stop him.

"I don't want to be alone." Luffy says, "But I won't be, because I won't fail."

"No, you won't be," Zoro says. He moves his hands to Luffy's face, and in this quiet moment, he lets himself feel everything that's been bubbling up inside him for the past few days. He loves Luffy, really, and he can't imagine just going home after this and continuing to sit in at home. He wants to stay by Luffy's side forever, if he could. "Succeed or fail, I'm not going anywhere."

Luffy leans into Zoro's touch heavily, grinning at him.

"Why is Zoro saying I'll be alone, then turning around and promising he'll stay with me? He's having a lot of trouble making up his mind."

"Sorry, sorry," Zoro says, "I'll open with that next time."

"I'm glad Zoro doesn't want to leave me, though," Luffy says, "It's good."

"Why would I?" Zoro asks, wrapping his arms around Luffy's waist. "You're the first person in centuries to tolerate me. I'm not giving up on that."

"Zoro's way more affectionate than he likes to give off." Luffy points out. "He's weird."

"Fine, then I just won't be affectionate." Zoro turns around, taking his hands off Luffy to sit with his back to Luffy. "Never mind, then."

Luffy smiles, pushing himself up against Zoro's back and resting his chin on his shoulder again.

"This is fine too." Luffy says.

"...You're insufferable," Zoro mutters, embarrassed Luffy seems so content just to be near him. Luffy smiles, tucking down and pressing his forehead onto Zoro's shoulder now. He likes this, holding onto Zoro and being comfortable with him.

"What? Something wrong?"

"Nothing," Zoro mutters. He'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy this. Maybe someone as affectionate as Luffy is just what Zoro needed. Luffy closes his eyes, letting out a sigh.

"Maybe we should sleep?"

"Maybe you should," Zoro says. He turns back to Luffy and lies down in his stomach, pushing Luffy under his arm. Luffy goes easily, moving with Zoro. He shifts a bit onto his side, hooking a leg around Zoro.

"Can't Zoro sleep, too?"

"Do you want me to?" Zoro asks.

"Well, what would he do besides sleep while I was sleeping? Does he just stare?" Luffy laughs.

"Usually I watch our surroundings. Need to be sure you're not killed in your sleep." Luffy squeezes Zoro a bit with his leg.

"Couldn't he sleep now? Robin and Franky are watching us."

"Why do you want me to sleep so bad?" Zoro asks, "What's in it for you?"

"Sleeping together makes people closer," Luffy says.

"I think you're already the closest any human has ever been to me," Zoro says, "How much closer could you possibly get?"

"As close as possible," Luffy mumbles.

"Why do you want that?" Zoro asks.

"I dunno. Zoro's cool, and if I lose my brothers, he's all I got," Luffy says. Zoro laughs a bit.

"Guess it couldn't hurt. If it'll mean that much to you, I'll nap." Luffy grins when Zoro ends up agreeing, reaching up to pat his head.

"See? it'll be nice. Zoro's old bed."

"Just go to bed already," Zoro mutters.

"I'm waiting." Luffy says, "For Zoro to sleep, so I know he's not lying to me."

"Why would I lie to you?" Zoro says, but he closes his eyes, setting into the pillow. It's a pretty dusty bed, but Zoro's temple is dusty as hell, too, so he doesn't really care that much.

Luffy watches Zoro close his eyes, just waiting for him to sleep. He's never seen Zoro asleep, or resting at all, so it's exciting to see the possibility of it. After a while, Zoro starts snoring. Luffy snickers. Who knew the God of death snores when he sleeps? It's a surprisingly human behavior, and it makes Luffy happy. Zoro isn't all that different from him, really. They're both two lonely people who found company in each other on the road to get their families back. It's nice, knowing Luffy has Zoro to lean on now. When Zoro is asleep like this, it's hard to think of him like a death God, hard to attribute all the deaths in the world to his hand. Zoro seems more like a human teenager here. His snores get even louder as Zoro flips onto his back and sprawls, sending an arm out and smacking Luffy in the face with it. Luffy laughs again, moving to cuddle up against Zoro's side. He uses Zoro's chest as his pillow, comfortable.

Luffy feels a special sort of affection for Zoro, one he doesn't think he's ever had for anyone else. There's something special about Zoro, for sure, to make Luffy feel this way. Luffy can't explain it, but it makes him happy. Zoro just makes him so much happier.

Zoro's snores turn into a shocked snort when he feels the weight of Luffy on his chest, opening his eyes a bit. He glances down, and upon seeing that it was just Luffy, goes right back to snoring. Luffy snickers, clutching tightly to his shirt. Luffy presses his face into Zoro's chest to hide it. Zoro's a little more subtle in how he shows it sometimes, but he's just as comfortable with Luffy.

Zoro's asleep now. Luffy knows he should follow Zoro's lead, but he's enjoying himself too much right now. He wants to save every moment of time he and Zoro have together, he loves Zoro's company too much to waste it on sleep. Now that Luffy thinks about it, maybe that's why Zoro likes doing watch so much.

Luffy closes his eyes, listening to Zoro's snores. It's comforting, the rise and fall of Zoro's chest, the way Zoro sometimes stops snoring to mutter something. He thinks he should let Zoro sleep more often. Luffy can feel himself getting tired with the peaceful rise and fall of Zoro's chest, and he decides if sleep wants to pull him away, he'll let it. This can't last forever, after all. Luffy doesn't think he'd want it to, either. Part of what's fun about being with Zoro is the adventure the two of them are sharing, after all.

Luffy yawns, patting Zoro's chest to mumble a goodnight to him. He can feel his body getting tired. Zoro mumbles something back. It's incoherent, but it makes him happy that even asleep Zoro cares to answer him. He's come a long way from being the moody and distant God he used to be.

Luffy drifts off to sleep, dreaming of Zoro and the ocean.

* * *

Luffy wakes up first the next morning, as Zoro's idea of a nap is Luffy's idea of a coma. Luffy lets Zoro sleep in a while, but when he gets up to try to sneak food, Zoro wakes. Sleeping is pointless if Luffy isn't with him, after all.

The pair heads out without much conversation between them and Zoro's parents. They know Zoro likes his space, after all. Well, usually. Still, Zoro finds they've left him and Luffy cash and food for the last leg of their journey. Luffy even finds his lunch box has a note from Robin: "Try not to fall off of Drum."

Zoro doesn't look happy about his mother's dark humor.

The walk to Drum is supposed to take about a week, and the climb an extra day after that. There's not much in between here and Drum but forest, as not many people go near the unforgiving mountain unless they truly are desperate. There's many stories about the place, but Luffy doesn't hear any of them as they leave Robin and Franky's town. No, Luffy hears the streets buzzing with a strange new piece of gossip. Someone heard from a friend who heard from a family member who was told that Zoro's last temple burned down recently. A friend told a friend that he heard from his sister that the priests all died. A woman overheard at the market that a priest at the temple heard that Zoro's been walking on Earth recently. There's a whisper among kids who haven't yet learned not to speak blasphemies in public, but have heard what their parents talk about late in the evening: Can a God with no priests be killed?

Zoro leaves town quickly. The trees don't whisper anything.

Luffy isn't fond of the whispers they hear as they leave, peoples ideas of killing the death god and living forever, obsessed with the idea of immortality. Turning Zoro's body into a fountain of youth, as if it even worked that way. Luffy always turns to watch Zoro's reactions carefully, who keeps a level face as they leave the town, like he isn't bothered by people discussing his death. It makes Luffy recall Zoro tiredly telling him all about how many humans curse his name already, so it likely isn't entirely different from what he gets at temples.

Luffy's distracted as the sun moves swiftly through the sky above them with the idea that his brothers are returning soon and decides to ask about it.

"Zoro mentioned that my brothers are watching over me," Luffy says, "Are they really? What're they up to?"

"I can't see what they're up to, but I gave them free range of my temple," Zoro says, "They're usually incorporeal, though, except in my temple. All the dead are. Mostly they just watch. There's a basin in my temple I use to see what humans on Earth are up to, so when they first died, I showed them how to see you. All they wanted was to know how you were doing."

"Zoro can just watch humans as he pleases?" Luffy asks, "What's he watch for?"

"I don't know. I guess... I see how my temples are doing," Zoro says, "Gods know when they're being watched, so I never saw my family. I did look at their temples, though."

"Zoro just creeped on his family instead of saying hello." Luffy grins.

"I just said I don't do that," Zoro says, "That's what your brothers are doing, too, though. Right now, I'd bet."

"Are they?" Luffy looks around, "Why don't they say hi?"

"They can't talk to you," Zoro says, "The only place I could imagine being able to communicate with the dead would be one of my temples. Clearly, humans never thought of that, though. Too late now."

"Zoro never TOLD us." Luffy points out.

"Maybe if everyone wasn't busy yelling at me long enough for me to get a word in, I would have," Zoro says, "But hey, now you know."

"Zoro can feel if they are watching, right?" Luffy asks, "So are they?"

"They do so much I don't notice anymore," Zoro says, "I'm sure they'll be happy to be with you again."

"I'm gonna be happy to see them!" Luffy hums happily, picking up his steps a bit with excitement. "I hope they aren't mad."

"Why would they be mad?" Zoro asks.

"Cuz I let them die," Luffy explains.

"Neither of them think that at all," Zoro says, "They were just worried about you, you know. The only thing they were mad about is that they'd left you alone."

"They don't have to be mad about that." Luffy says.

"They were. They were devastated," Zoro says, "They thought they'd abandoned you."

"I wouldn't say they abandoned me..." Luffy mutters, "But I would be pretty lonely."

"That's what they were worried about," Zoro says.

"But that's okay! They're coming back." Luffy says, "So it doesn't matter!"

"And if they weren't, that's what I'm for," Zoro says, patting a hand on Luffy's back. Luffy nods, smiling at Zoro. He quite liked this deal they've worked out, considering no matter what happens he wouldn't be lonely. He catches Zoro's hand as it slides back down, linking them together and squeezing. Zoro allows it to happen, watching their hands. He can't imagine any other human trying this, but Luffy does it so effortlessly. The new feeling of love swells up in Zoro again at how easily Luffy shows him affection, and it almost feels silly to Zoro how happy this could make him. Luffy swings their hands, stepping closer to Zoro.

"Zoro has a weird look on his face!"

"I do not." Zoro looks away, avoiding Luffy's gaze. "Last time I say anything nice to you."

"That was barely nice! Zoro was just stating the obvious." Luffy says. Zoro laughs a bit. Luffy considers his presence a fact. The idea is unfamiliar to Zoro, but he loves it.

"Can't the obvious be nice?" Zoro asks.

"Yeah, I guess." Luffy says. "Zoro's kinda weird."

"Don't be rude," Zoro says. He feels Luffy swinging their hands as they walk.

"He is!" Luffy says, "He's a weird God."

"You've mentioned. I'm also the only God willing to tolerate you," Zoro says.

"Hey, the other Gods liked me!" Luffy says.

"Right," Zoro says, "They just like you because I like you."

"I doubt that." Luffy says, "Zoro doesn't like his family."

"I do like my family," Zoro says, "I'm just sick of seeing them all this week. It's too much."

"It's too much?" Luffy laughs, "Zoro, I saw my brothers everyday!"

"I know, how did you stand that?" Zoro asks.

"I love my brothers," Luffy says, "It never really got annoying."

"Really? Never?" Zoro asks, "Not even for a minute?"

"Not to me, no!" Luffy says, "Sometimes they kinda got mad at me, though..."

"Oh, I get it. They didn't annoy you, you annoyed them," Zoro says. Luffy shoves him.

"No I didn't! They love me." Luffy grumbles, "How long until we get to Drum, anyway?"

"Not long. There's no more towns to stop in, it's just forest and then mountain," Zoro says. He looks up, though foliage blocks his line of sight. "If it weren't for the trees, we might be able to see it."

"Think we're gonna see more of Zoro's family?" Luffy asks

"Well, Chopper's a given," Zoro says, "You've met most of them. All you haven't met are Vivi, Brook, and the cook."

"Brook! I want to meet Brook!" Luffy bounces a bit on his toes, "He's a musician!"

"If you yell like that, he'll probably show up," Zoro mutters. Death has always been followed closely by decay, so Brook is one of the Gods Zoro has seen the most of. He'd usually be the easiest to deal with, but right now…

"Brook!" Luffy shouts into the air, "Brook, I wanna hear a song!"

"I didn't want you to call him out!" Zoro says, but it's a little late. The rustling of trees in the wind starts to sound like a tune, and Zoro sighs. Luffy won't let him catch a goddamned break. Luffy stands on his toes as he listens to the trees, the whistling of the wind.

"Is that Brook?!" He demands, straining his ears to hear humming.

"That's Brook," Zoro mutters. Brook is the God Zoro wants to see least right now, especially with Luffy. He's not really prepared to try to talk to the God of love just yet. Luffy separates from Zoro, watching as the trees around them bend and start to snap, going along with the tune the forest is making. Luffy takes one more step back, shocked when he hears a clack-only to turn around and see tile floor, the forest around them shaped into a ballroom. Zoro groans, not at all impressed the way Luffy is.

"You could just come out and say hi, you know!" Zoro says. Luffy seems fascinated with the way the floor was once grass, tapping at it with his feet to try and break it to see the grass underneath.

"Zoro, look! How's he doing that?!"

"It's pretty cool, right?" asks a voice. Luffy and Zoro turn, Luffy with excitement and Zoro with dread. He might just be less excited to see Brook than he was any of the others. "It's good to meet you, Luffy-san. I've heard a lot about you."

"Brook!" Luffy points at him, "That's Brook! I know, cuz that's a skeleton. Brook, I have to ask you something really important!" Luffy clenches his fists, grinning, "Can you poop?!"

"Why do you keep asking that?" Zoro says.

"I can!" Brook says, at the same time. Luffy nods, happy with the result.

"How'd you make the forest go away?"

"Gods have a lot of special powers," Brook says. Zoro knows Brook, Franky, and Robin are able to make things out of thin air, unlike the younger Gods, due to having created the world. The universe affords them that special favor.

"That's so cool!" Luffy hops on the ground, hearing his sandals slap against the tile floor. "Zoro, Brook is cool. Why didn't you let me meet him earlier?"

"Sorry, didn't think of it," Zoro mutters.

"Do you still want to hear a song?" Brook asks, looking to Luffy.

"Of course I do!" Luffy says, "What're you gonna play?"

"I've got something in mind for you two. Would you like to dance?" Brook asks.

"Dance?" Luffy repeats, "I don't really know how!"

"Zoro-san can lead," Brook says, "He knows how."

"Throwing me under like that, huh?" Zoro grumbles. He pauses, looking at Luffy. "...Do you want to?"

Luffy nods, excited, and Zoro sighs. He loops an arm around Luffy's waist, taking Luffy's hand in his other. He can guess what Brook is trying to pull here, given he knows how Zoro feels about Luffy.

"Put your hand on my shoulder," Zoro says. Luffy does so, smiling.

"Now what?"

"Now," Zoro says. He looks to Brook, who's taken a few steps back. He has a piano now, and Zoro doesn't really know where it came from.

Brook begins to play a song, so Zoro looks to Luffy.

"Now, you just need to follow me."

Luffy nods, looking down at Zoro's feet to follow along with his sudden movements.

"When did Zoro learn to dance?"

"Way back, when Earth was new. Brook taught all of us," Zoro says, watching the wall behind Luffy. "We didn't have much better to do but create and learn."

Luffy smiles at they dance, letting Zoro lead him along.

"Does Zoro miss doing that?"

"...Sometimes," Zoro admits. It's easier to admit that to Luffy than to anyone else.

"Good thing he's gonna make up with them after this, then." Luffy says, humming.

"I'll try," Zoro says. It's still hard to believe he's saying something like that, honestly. Luffy must be a miracle worker to be returning him to his family like this, "You... really are something, you know that?"

Luffy laughs.

"I am?" He asks, "I don't even know what Zoro means."

"I mean you're something special," Zoro says, "Not anyone could win over a God like you did, let alone getting all of them to come talk to you and play music for you."

"I think the Gods are nicer than Zoro likes to make them out to be," Luffy says.

"No, that's just you," Zoro says, "You've got some real charm about you."

"Zoro thinks I'm charming now?" Luffy asks.

"I do," Zoro says, "What, am I not allowed to say something nice every once in a while?"

"No, Zoro's fine," Luffy says, "He's just being nicer than usual."

"I'm feeling a little extra nice right now," Zoro says, shrugging.

"Is it the music?" Luffy asks, "That makes Zoro nicer?"

"Maybe," Zoro says. If Zoro asked Brook about any sort of influencing enchantments, he'd just say that's the power of music. Luffy sways with Zoro, stepping closer to him to tuck himself into Zoro's body, resting his cheek on Zoro's shoulder.

"We should do this more."

"You like dancing?" Zoro asks.

"I like being close with you." Luffy confesses quietly.

"Figured as much, what with you sleeping on me and everything." Zoro laughs. He tightens his arm around Luffy's waist, though, happy to know Luffy enjoys his company so much.

"But it's different right now." Luffy says, "Doesn't he think?"

"Different how?" Zoro asks, neither confirming nor denying it.

"Right now feels… warmer." Luffy watches their feet, the motions of dancing.

"Warmer?" Zoro asks.

"Warmer." Luffy whispers, nodding. "Much warmer."

"Is it a good sort of warm?" Zoro asks.

"Really good." Luffy says, "I can't explain how Zoro's making me feel."

"Warm and comfortable. Like napping in the sun on a summer afternoon," Zoro says, thinking of his own feelings. He's not really sure why he says it aloud, though with their quiet whispering hidden under the music, it feels safe to share secrets.

"Exactly." Luffy nods into Zoro's shoulder. "Like when we went to the beach."

"Funny, I remember you dragging me into the water and then shivering out on the sand when we got out," Zoro says, teasing, "I don't remember any sleeping or even sitting from you."

"I got warmer when we got out!" Luffy snorts, "And that's how I felt!"

"What does it mean, then?" Zoro asks, "That warm feeling."

Luffy hugs Zoro, considering it. The warmth he feels with Zoro, the way Zoro makes him feel safe… It's like he feels like he can do anything with Zoro. Absolutely anything.

Zoro notices Luffy's silence and looks down at him. Luffy's face is pressed to Zoro's chest, a soft smile having snuck its way to Luffy's lips at some point. Not that a smile would have to try hard, of course. Luffy smiles easily and often, even in the wake of tragedies that would push other men over the edge. His ability to bounce back with a grin on his face is something Zoro wishes he could learn from Luffy, though it's a few centuries too late.

Zoro moves his hand to the back of Luffy's head, holding Luffy close so he can rest his chin on Luffy's head. Luffy doesn't have to answer what the feeling means. Zoro thinks he just might know the answer.

Luffy squeezes him tightly, enjoying their times together. He wants to keep doing this, and he knows he's wasting time with this… he needs to get his brothers back, but he wants to stay here with Zoro for a while.

Zoro sways with Luffy, a gentle silence falling on them both. He could spend years here, in this little ballroom, holding Luffy in his arms. Luffy would never last, of course, but Zoro wishes he could. He'd give up another 2000 years of his lifetime if it meant Luffy would dance with him just another minute. Luffy would probably use that better than him, anyway. He's spent the last 2000 years running from everyone he loved. Luffy's lived just short of 20, and he seems to have loved every second of it. If Zoro could feel what Luffy feels about the world, even just for a second, he thinks he could finally be happy.

Though, holding Luffy close like this, swaying as the gentle piano carries his thoughts away... If he and Luffy are feeling the same warmth of a lazy summer afternoon, maybe Zoro knows how Luffy feels after all. And when Zoro feels like this, he really is happy. Luffy is his warm summer sunlight, his happiness.

Brook brings his song to a quiet close, but the two continue dancing. It's hard to ignore, when he's the God of love himself, what's filling his ballroom. It's so palpable it reminds Brook of when Franky and Robin, the first love, met. It's such a true love, Brook is almost shocked that they haven't done anything about it yet.

Luffy notices the music fade out. Zoro keeps swaying, but without the song, he could stop. Even though Luffy knows they should go, and he wants to see his brothers...

Luffy closes his eyes and begins to hum, quietly. Most of the song is lost into the fabric of Zoro's clothes, but it's loud enough Zoro can hear it. Just one more minute. He wants Zoro to hold him for just one more. At least one more. Maybe two, if Zoro wants to (Which Luffy knows Zoro does).

Brook shakes his head fondly. If they wanted more music, they could've just asked for more! He waves his hand and the ballroom starts to break down around them, quietly, as to not interrupt what they're doing.

Luffy doesn't notice the ballroom fall apart, and Zoro doesn't notice Brook leave through a portal. Neither of them notice the afternoon sun which breaks through the foliage, casting its warmth around them in a splotchy spotlight. The warmth they get from each other is strong enough that neither of them feel the sunlight on their back as they spin under it. Luffy's humming just barely covers the sound of shoes on grass instead of tile. They're content together on their own. They continue like that for some time, just enjoying each other. At some point, Luffy opens his eyes and sees the grass-then stops.

"Ah. Brook's gone!" He notes. Zoro stops, too, pulling away from Luffy a bit. He pulls his chin off of Luffy's head and drops his hand back to Luffy's waist, holding loosely. The magic of the moment seems to have passed.

"He must've left once he finished," Zoro says. He feels... tired, almost. Maybe he's relaxed? Regardless, he looks down to Luffy. "Do you want to keep going?"

Luffy feels heavy, like he just had the best sleep in his life. Too relaxed for his own good, he just wants to sit down and hug Zoro again.

"...Kind of?"

"Kind of?" Zoro snickers. He pulls back even more, smiling softly as he takes in Luffy's sleepy face. Zoro won't say this out loud, but he'd be lying if he said Luffy wasn't cute. "It's getting late, let's just find somewhere to rest. You look like you could use it."

"I look like I need it?" Luffy snickers, poking Zoro in the cheek. "Zoro's got bags under his eyes."

"They're not bags, that's just a God thing. Gods look like that. I mean, did you see how dark Brook's eyes were?" Zoro asks. Luffy stares at Zoro like he's stupid.

"Brook has no eyes."

"...That's the joke," Zoro deadpans, "Not very bright, huh, Sunlight?"

Luffy beams, keeping up the name Zoro's given him.

"Zoro just makes bad jokes!"

"But you're smiling. You like my jokes," Zoro says. He separates from Luffy to start walking towards the mountain, looking for a place to sleep. In a moment he feels Luffy's hand in his own, though he can't say for sure who made the move to grab it. Luffy sucks up to Zoro's side, searching the area as well for a nice place for them to lay down. He spots a large tree, tugging Zoro towards it.

"What about there?"

"I don't think I'm getting much of a choice," Zoro says as Luffy sits him down at the bottom. Luffy sits on top of Zoro immediately, facing him and resting his head back into Zoro's shoulder, taking his place for the night.

"Zoro's so comfy," Luffy sighs, eyes closed.

"Do I have to go to bed, too, or is that out of your system now?" Zoro asks. He could really go for a nap, honestly, but with how comfortable he is, he doesn't think he'd wake up for another decade.

"Zoro doesn't  _have_  to." Luffy snorts, "But I'm sleepy now."

"Then sleep," Zoro says. He hugs Luffy, leaning back against the tree. "I might just sleep, too."

Luffy curls his legs up, not replying to Zoro as he's already falling asleep. Zoro grins, watching Luffy a moment before closing his eyes. In the past, he's had mortals pass through the Afterlife saying they were lucky to have someone they loved be the last thing they ever saw. Drifting off to sleep again, Zoro thinks he might have an idea of what they'd meant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lew: fun fact! me and maddie have been doing this sort of thing together (unpublished vie twitter dms) for over two years. ending scenes with these two going to sleep is a pretty common thing for us, since "i think i/you/we should go to sleep" is a good in-scene way to suggest a scene is coming to an end. hence why we ended like... three or four scene in this fic like that  
> also, yeah, thats the diner scene i said in the first author's note. it took us THIS LONG to realize we were picturing completely different time periods.  
> another fact: brook is my favorite character (after luffy and zoro) so i inststed he got to do smth important. so, love god (tbh we just forgot to make someone a love god until basically all the characters had 3 domains except like. brook and i think? robin. so i gave it to brook, bc whats more romantic than music?).  
> ...one more fact, in the first RP version of this au a few months ago, this dance scene didnt just have luffy and zoro! there were also a number of ghostly dancers who danced around them them, purely for ~aesthetic~ (but bc it didnt make much sense in universe, it didnt stay)


	5. Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy and Zoro make their way up the mountain, at long last meeting the God of Life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lew: hey, so, its been a while. uh. school was approaching, so i promised myself i wouldnt do any work on Fun Writing till i finished my massive amounts of summer homework (and then started a very silly tumblr blog called everybrook and spent several dozen hours on that...)
> 
> then i finished my homework and school rolled around and i... forgot that i had this. to upload. whoops
> 
> anyway. this is done with maddie, who reminded me it was in facr a thing i had to post like four hours ago. and shoutout to jess for reading it over for some edits

Zoro wakes up before Luffy the next morning, something dropping from the tree above him and landing on his head. He looks up and sees nothing, then looks down to Luffy. He's sprawled out now, having turned at some point last night so he's just lying over Zoro's lap instead of sitting in it. Zoro doesn't really mind. He shakes Luffy, gentle, and Luffy doesn't react. He shakes Luffy again, less gentle, and Luffy still doesn't react.

"Did you die in your sleep or something?" Zoro mutters, "Wake up. We've gotta go."

Luffy is unimpressed by Zoro's plight and starts to snore, up until Zoro shoves Luffy out of his lap.

"Get up, we're climbing a mountain now."

"How are we climbing the mountain, anyway?" Luffy yawns, "We don't have any climbing supplies."

"There's some paths up," Zoro says, "So long as you're careful and watch your step, you'll be fine."

"Oh, no worries then!" Luffy pulls Zoro's cloak tighter around himself, looking toward the tip of the mountain he could see through breaks in the tree branches. "I'll have my brothers back soon."

"Right," Zoro says. It's hard to believe this journey which has helped him so much is about to be over. "Don't forget, you can call me if you need anything once this is over and we part ways. I'll be there for you"

"I know Zoro will be!" Luffy hums happily, "It's not over yet, Zoro. We still have to climb!"

"Right, right. Come on, then," Zoro says, "I'll lead the way. You just watch where you're walking."

Luffy follows Zoro toward the mountain, taking in his surroundings as they approach the Drum rockies. It's much colder than it was back by his home, but Zoro's cloak retains heat better than he thought it would. Zoro glances back at Luffy, who's wearing flip flops and shorts.

"The mountain is freezing. Godly magic and all," Zoro says, "Chopper's always loved snow. And your feet are going to freeze right off before we reach the top."

"Nahh, they'll be fine!" Luffy wiggles his toes, "It's not that cold!"

"We aren't even at the mountain yet," Zoro says, "Just don't ask me halfway up to carry you, alright?"

"I wont! I can do it myself!" Luffy shoves Zoro's back as they start up the path toward the mountain.

"Whatever you say," Zoro says. It should be a day's walk up the mountain, though it's been a long time since Zoro has been here. The climb is steep, and many of the paths Zoro once knew are long since changed. Plus, he has to watch out for Luffy and his shitty shoes to make sure Luffy doesn't trip. Most of the walk is silent, however. Though Luffy tries making conversation, Zoro's responses tend to be one-word, halting all attempts. He's too worried to talk about anything.

Zoro dislikes the idea of climbing a mountain with another human. Zoro isn't afraid of heights, but he IS afraid of humans at tall heights. One mangled, once-loved human is enough for him. He focuses on the task at hand, on walking with Luffy up the mountain. He has to continually test new trails, unsure of the way up. The climb begins to look like it could take two days or even three with all the dead ends Zoro accidentally leads Luffy down. It doesn't help that many spots are narrow, and every rock or patch of dirt that tumbles down the side of the mountain sets Zoro on edge. The mountain is a maze designed specifically to stress Zoro out.

Despite the treachery, they still end up roughly halfway to the top. The wind is loud and cold, and Zoro's sure if not for the cloak Luffy would be in the process of freezing to death. Luffy can tell Zoro is nervous about the climb, but he won't talk to Luffy about anything. With conversation going nowhere, Luffy picks up a stick from the path and pokes Zoro in the back of the head with it repeatedly. It take only a few tries before Zoro turns around and slaps the stick away.

"Poke me one more time and I'll push you off this mountain myself," Zoro snaps.

"Zoro would never," Luffy says, poking him continually.

"You want to test that?" Zoro asks, shoving him hard enough that he stumbles back a step.

"Hey!" Luffy shoves Zoro back, toward the ledge, "Zoro doesn't know who he's messing with!"

"What, you? You're not very threatening, you know. You're chest height, stick thin, and light enough a strong gust of wind could push you over," Zoro says.

"I can kick Zoro's ass, easy." Luffy grins.

"No you can't," Zoro says, "I'm the God of violence, you're really going to challenge me to a fight?"

"Yeah, I am!" Luffy raises his fists. "What, scared?"

"No, I'm not scared," Zoro says, "Watch your step. You're going to slip if you're messing around."

"I'm not going to slip!" Luffy says, "Hurry up and fight me!"

"Fi—? I'm not going to fight you!" Zoro says. He turns his back to Luffy, starting to walk again. This section of the mountain path is particularly narrow, and with how high up they are, he doesn't want to risk having Luffy fall.

"Zoro's just a coward," Luffy mumbles, poking him in the back again with the stick.

"You can keep poking me all you want, Luffy," Zoro says, "I'm not going to fight you, especially not when one wrong move will send you off the side."

Luffy jogs a bit on a turn, stumbling after Zoro while he laughs.

"I'm not gonna fall! Stop worrying!" He drops the stick, quickly holding onto his hat as a large gust of wind blows at them, the cold biting at his legs.

"I'd rather not take the chance," Zoro mutters. Though he loves Luffy, he would be kidding himself if he thought Luffy was incapable of being... incredibly irritating. Luffy rides on Zoro's heels, stepping on the back of his boots and shoving him forward, grinning. He was filled with a lot of untapped energy, having rested so well and filled with excitement to get his brothers back so soon.

"How much longer?" Luffy asks, "Can't Chopper just bring us up there?"

"I don't even know if Chopper's aware we're climbing this mountain," Zoro mutters, annoyed with Luffy being so pushy, "Or maybe he's nervous. I haven't spoken to him in over a thousand years, he probably thinks I hate him or something."

"Probably!" Luffy agrees, kicking a rock off the side of the mountain. It doesn't look like they're too terribly high up, at least…

Zoro frowns. He'd kind of been hoping Luffy would disagree.

"Right. So he's not going to help us up, so quit complaining and goofing off," Zoro grouches.

"I'm not complaining!" Luffy says, "I'm just saying! Zoro's in such a bad mood, lighten up."

"No. You're annoying," Zoro says.

"Zoro's more annoying." Luffy shoots back, pressing his foot to the back of Zoro's knee to make him stumble. Zoro turns back immediately, glaring at Luffy.

"Would you cut that out!?" Zoro says.

"Cut what out?" Luffy grins at him, poking Zoro again. Zoro smacks Luffy's hand away. The plants near them and under their feet begin to die, wilting away with Zoro's mood.

"You know what you did," Zoro mutters, too focused on moving forwards to notice. He sounds almost like he did the first day. "How hard can it be to just climb a fucking mountain?"

"It's boring!" Luffy complains, loudly. "We've been walking for so many days and Zoro's been moody the entire day! I just wanna be done with this already, can't Zoro fly?!"

"I've already told you, I'm not flying!" Zoro says, "Especially not here! And I haven't been moody the whole day!"

"Zoro's been moody this whole day!" Luffy doesn't realize Zoro's mounting irritation, the way the grass is wilting and crumbling with every step he takes. "He's acting like when we first met, when he hated being around me!"

"I didn't hate being around you!" Zoro says, softening a bit. The ground crumbles further despite his mood improving, as its too late to salvage the patch they stand on. "I've never hated being around you. Even if you're fucking annoying sometimes, I've never wanted this little adventure to end. I like having you around."

Luffy opens his mouth to reply, but the only thing that comes out is a sharp gasp as the ground crumbles beneath him, his foot slipping.

"Zo-" He chokes on air, eyes wide as he tries to catch the hand now reaching out for him, but missing entirely. Zoro doesn't even get the satisfaction of Luffy's hand brushing his one last time before Luffy is out of sight, down the hole in the path Zoro has created under them both. The cloak catches on something as he tumbled down, its protective quality lost after it's torn away from him. Zoro drops, too, but he isn't worried about himself for even a moment as he plummets down the rock face. His cuts and bruises and gaping wounds and odd bent limbs will all heal in moments, the golden blood he feels running in all directions across his body will dry. Zoro's eye collides with something sharp, and even as he feels it bleed, he knows the pain will be gone soon. Luffy won't be so lucky.

Zoro lands at the bottom of the mountain, his spine landing on a rock in such a way it would kill any human. Zoro knows Luffy landed in the same area, and the still painfully clear memory of Merry's body at the bottom of the mountain burns clear in his head as the last few stones settle around him. Luffy is only a few feet away from Zoro, but Zoro can't make himself look over. He didn't see this coming, never saw any signs on Luffy as they walked up, but he knows there's no way Luffy survived this fall.

Zoro knows he could lay here a thousand years and never be brave enough to look to his side and see the state of Luffy's body. He's seen the gore of a war torn nation and witnessed the life drain from the eyes of infants, but somehow, one 19 year old falling to his death is too much to bear. He blinks the dirt from his eye, sure this is the cause of the watering he can feel stinging at the corners, and he sits up. He doesn't see Luffy, but he does see the cloak. Zoro reaches over and grabs it, turning it in his hands. Luffy had lost it early in the fall, so it couldn't protect him from anything. Zoro sighs. He knows where Luffy's soul must be now. At least he could go to see Luffy, and... apologize for giving Luffy such a painful death.

His body cracks sickeningly as his bones reset themselves, wiping golden blood on the ground. He can't sit here for too long, waiting for his vertebrae to realign, Luffy will need a hand in the after life. No doubt his brothers will chew him out for this, but at least they're together.

Zoro stands. His legs aren't set right, but they'll get there. His eye heals, but it seems to be closed for good. He doesn't have it in him to care. He opens a portal and walks through without looking back, stepping into his throne room.

Immediately after appearing, someone punches him.

"Ow." Zoro deadpans in response. There's angry breathing, heavy and pissed off, and then there's a freckled face shoved right into his personal space.

"What the fuck just happened!?" Ace demands.

"The ground collapsed," Zoro says. He finds his voice is calm, as his heart hasn't quite caught up to his brain on processing what's just happened. "Luffy being here should tell you enough. Where is he, anyway?"

"He isn't here!" Ace exclaims, "if he was here, don't you think we would've had him with us?! We saw him die, so where the fuck is he?!"

"What do you mean, he isn't here?" Zoro asks, "Where else would he— hold on."

Zoro pushes past Ace and Sabo, into the other room where the basin is.

"Show me where Luffy is," Zoro says. The basin can find souls, too, as Zoro sometimes uses it to locate damned souls which have escaped their punishment. The viscous black goop in the basin swirls into an image, showing Luffy's contortionist corpse at the base of the mountain. Zoro quickly shoves his hand into the image to disperse it. "Show me Luffy's soul!"

The black goop swirls and swirls, as if thinking. With every swirl Zoro grows more impatient, more worried, as the goop swirls faster until the basin cracks, shattering and sending it flying. It stains Zoro's face. A reaction like that means Luffy's not above or below, or even on this plane.

"He's between." Zoro wipes the goop off his cheek, "Why the hell is he between?!"

"Zoro, what the fuck have you done to our brother?" Sabo says, as Zoro opens another portal. Whatever he's done, he's going to make it right.

"I'm going to fix this." Zoro promises, "I won't let him die like that. I won't let him just... wander alone. I'll fix him."

"Zoro, hold—" Zoro doesn't hear whatever Sabo has to say, because in the next moment he's at the base of the mountain. He knows what he's looking for, and though he's seen thousands of bodies in the past, the idea of seeing Luffy's is something he can barely stomach. He almost hopes he can't find the body, though he knows from his mistake at the basin that it's here.

The area of the mountain they fell off of isn't hard to find. Rubble is piled high at the base of a certain area of the mountain, which Zoro picks through as careful as he can. He doesn't want to risk missing anything. After a few minutes, Zoro spots an arm sticking out of the landslide they created.

Zoro walks with deliberation over to Luffy's body, finding fearfully lifeless eyes meet his own. A day ago they were dancing, and Zoro had felt like he was the happiest thing under the sun. Though the sky is clear today, Zoro doesn't think he can feel the sun on his back. Zoro stares at irrefutable proof below him, something his heart cannot deny. His sunlight is gone.

Water drips onto Luffy's face as Zoro bends down, leaning over to lift him. Zoro only notices it when he goes to close Luffy's eyes. He looks up, but there aren't any clouds above them. Zoro still pretends it's rain as he sticks his hands under Luffy's body, gentle with the damaged corpse as though it could still feel.

"I've got you," Zoro says to the lifeless body, quiet, holding him close. He hates the way he can feel Luffy's bent out of shape elbow touching his chest. He hates how Luffy's body still has traces of warmth, being so recent. He hates that he let another human get close to him-and then let that human die once again.

He had to go to Chopper, get to purgatory to get Luffy out. But the day's trip up the mountain…

Zoro looks to the sky again. He can feel warm blood, bright red, drip down his arm. Luffy's got a gash on his side which Zoro's put his hand in, and now Luffy's bleeding out onto him. It covers up the drying gold that's already there, and Zoro finds his resolve. A long time ago, he swore off one of his most integral parts of being a God, a power that had killed someone he loved. Now, though...

Zoro steps forwards. Another step, then a third, and on the forth his foot doesn't touch the ground. Two thousand years since Zoro has flown, and yet it still comes naturally, it seems.

The mountain's steep faces passes Zoro by in moments, though he tries not to go up too fast so he doesn't drop Luffy, doesn't… he doesn't know how he could agitate a dead body, but he feels like he could. He's already screwed up enough in his life.

At the top of the mountain is an old castle. Despite the snow and freezing winds, the front doors are wide open. Zoro lands in front of them, holding Luffy a little tighter. He hears the chirping of birds and glances up to see a small bird's nest nestled on top of the door, baby birds chirping at him as he approaches. Zoro smiles a bit at them. All these years and Chopper hasn't changed. Zoro avoids walking too close to them, wanting to be sure he doesn't kill them by proximity.

"It's beautiful, you know," Zoro says to the body in his arms, the snow crunching under his steps as he walks into the castle. He shuffles Luffy closer to himself, trying to remember the layout of the castle. Chopper usually hung out on the second level, in a little infirmary where he studied herbs…

Zoro wanders around the castle, though he has no idea where to go. Cold blood drips down his arms, creating a trail to keep him from doubling back on himself in the labyrinthian corridors of the castle. His mind is fuzzy with grief and stress, yet since the fall his veins have coursed with more adrenaline than blood. He's not so frazzled, however, that he doesn't hear the sound of hooves echo on the tile as something runs at him from behind. Zoro stops walking, letting Chopper catch up to him, though he doesn't turn around.

"Zoro!" Chopper screeches, tiny form hopping right onto his shoulders. He squeezes Zoro's head, sounding like he's seconds away from tears as he babbles about how much he missed Zoro, how he never thought he'd see him again, and then he stops.

"Wh-Zoro!? Zoro, what-WHY DO YOU HAVE A BLEEDING HUMAN?!" Chopper exclaims, "I thought the blood was yours but then I remembered we don't bleed that color and-but, why do you have one in your arms?!"

"I need your help," Zoro says, looking back over his shoulder at Chopper. Chopper notices for the first time that Zoro is crying, though Zoro himself doesn't seem to have realized it. "He's stuck, he can't move onto the Afterlife. I can't leave him like that."

"Zoro… you…" Chopper taps a hoof to Zoro's cheek, surprised. "Um… come on, bring him to the infirmary. I'll see what I can do."

Zoro nods. He doesn't try to touch his face, too focused on holding Luffy. He allows Chopper to guide through the castle, up a flight of stairs and down a long hallway to the little room. It's comfortable and warm, and Zoro walks over to a bed. He hesitates above it a long moment before setting Luffy down, then runs a hand through Luffy's hair. He only stops when Chopper passes him a rag.

"Thanks." Zoro mutters, rubbing the rag over his face first, then moving to wipe up the blood decorating Luffy's body. "...I think his soul is stuck in the inbetween. I don't know why, but he didn't come to the Afterlife."

"I'll heal his body so he can return," Chopper says, "But Zoro, if this doesn't work, he'll..."

"I think Luffy would rather be destroyed than stuck alone for all eternity," Zoro says. He turns and pauses, closing his eye. He pauses, thinking hard. He focuses on Luffy, using his feelings as a line for Luffy to grab onto. In between is a hard place to reach, one Zoro cannot usually go. However, for Luffy? Zoro will.

In front of him opens a portal. Unstable and fuzzy, but a portal nonetheless. Zoro doesn't think twice before stepping through.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lew: originally this was one chapter combined w the next one but i didnt like how much Happened in that one chapter so i split them, hence this being so short. the next one will be the last, so thank you so much to everyone who's stuck with us this long! i really appreciate all the support we've got so far, including lots of sweet reviews. you're all awesome!


	6. Fire, Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sun finally sets on the journey of Luffy and Zoro.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lew: so its uh. its been a while huh. this has been finished for a while, but between a fuckton of summer homework, even more schoolwork with the aps i took, AND college apps (...and a very silly Brook related side project ive been talking about on twitter...), i didnt have time to just... sit down and finish edits. but! i got the edits done bit by bit and here we are. the final chapter of Deify!
> 
> again, this was written with my dear friend maddie, who i love, and who has been messaging me like once a week reminding me i had to put up chapter 6. look mads, i finally did it :,)
> 
> well, i hope you enjoy!

The landscape flickers stark white and pitch black simultaneously, the shades competing for the right to be seen and both winning and losing. The in between does not exist, a space like silent static both infinitely large and impossibly small. There's no passage of time or concept of life. It's been both a moment since the creation of the first God and millennia past the destruction of the universe. The space in between doesn't care which. The mind, human or God, is not meant to see this place, so it does not try hard to make sense to them. Things simply are not meant to exist here, because here is not meant to exist.

Luffy hates it. Curled up silently, his body aching from his fall, he hates it here. This place, this horrible place Zoro's sent him to, he doesn't get it. He feels everything he felt at the time of his death, fear, excruciating pain, like he can't move. Why did Zoro send him here?

To top it off, he's completely alone. There's nobody around him, there's no souls, just darkness.

Even as Luffy closes his eyes, he can feel the crushing weight of his new reality bore down on him. Luffy's already screamed his voice raw, calling for everyone he's ever known, but no help has arrived. He slams his forehead to the ground but feels nothing, as though he's suspended in the air. He hates this, hates being here, hates that Zoro sent him here... Did Zoro lie to him? Was Zoro plotting this whole time to throw him off the fucking mountain because he was angry that Luffy wouldn't follow the laws of nature? He thought Zoro said he'd get a free ride when he died, that he'd be able to stay with him in his temple… but now?! Now he's stuck in this fucking place, a place he wasn't even aware existed.

Was Zoro that angry about Luffy being annoying? Was that it? Did Luffy really piss him off so much that Zoro's solution was murder? Luffy would go back and apologize if he could, he'd do anything to go back and undo this terrible curse Zoro's put on him. He tried slamming his head into the ground again, but still feels nothing.

He'd go back and watch his brothers die a thousand times, at least he wouldn't be alone then! He'd go back to Earth and let himself starve in front of all the world's greatest chefs cooking all his favorite foods if it meant being near someone again! He'd let Zoro shove him off hundreds of mountains if it meant he got to see someone's face again before he fell! He doesn't want to be alone forever, he'd shred off every inch of his skin one at a time if it meant he didn't have to endure this a moment longer. He has no idea how long he's endured it already. He feels like it could be decades already since he woke up here, but his wounds still feel fresh.

Zoro really, truly must hate Luffy beyond what words could reasonably express if it meant Luffy got stuck here. Luffy doesn't understand it! What did he do? Why does Zoro hate him so much? How does he apologize? How does he get Zoro to forgive him? He wants to be alive again, if only so he could make it up to Zoro. Whatever he did must have been truly and unbelievably horrible for him to deserve this.

Zoro steps into the flickering world of the inbetween, searching for Luffy's soul. The inbetween is long and expansive, and hardly anyone is banished here-it's only happened a couple of times in the millions of years Zoro's lived. To think Luffy would be stuck in this fate...to Luffy, it must be worse than hell.

"Luffy!" He yells into the emptiness, and it's like he's yelling into a padded room, no echo, his voice quieter than usual. Zoro runs through the expanse, looking around for any sign of Luffy he can find. His footsteps change in volume as he moves, sometimes mid step. He doesn't care. He knows if he keeps running, he'll have to find Luffy eventually. He keeps calling for Luffy, hoping Luffy might hear him.

Luffy hears a noise which sounds something like feet on tile, something running towards him. He sits up, looking around, and sees Zoro coming at him. Zoro looks like he's calling something, waving his arms, but Luffy can't hear his voice. Zoro's footsteps begin to sound like the crunching of fallen leaves as Zoro gets closer, as though the space in between's inconsistent reality is deciding what sound it likes best. Luffy doesn't care what it sounds like, though, as he tries to get to his feet despite his injuries. He likes what he sees much more than he cares about what he hears, desperate for anyone but especially desperate for the man he loves. Suddenly, Zoro's voice booms around him.

" _Luffy_!" Zoro yells, "Just stay put! I'm going to get you out of here!"

Luffy seems shocked to see Zoro, but in this moment, he doesn't think he could possibly be happier.

"Zoro!" Luffy yells back, but his voice is muffled, as if under a pillow. He keeps trying, though it hurts with all the screaming he's already done, trying to push forward to get to him. His hand slips on the fake floors, like it's ice now, like the world can't decide how it'd like to torture Luffy next.

"Just— Don't move!" Zoro says. He doesn't look to be getting any closer to Luffy, but in a moment he's by Luffy's side. He kneels down, trying to get closer to Luffy. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry, Luffy, you were never supposed to end up here. People aren't supposed to end up here."

"Where  _is_ here?!" Luffy demands, "I'm all hurt and-this place keeps changing, and I thought  _you_ sent me here!"

"I wouldn't send anyone here. I can't," Zoro says, "It's a place between dead and alive. You're clearly very, very dead, so there's no reason for you to be here. It means you can't pass on. I don't know why."

Luffy reaches out toward Zoro with his good arm, the one that doesn't look twisted the wrong way, wanting to touch him.

"So...you didn't send me here because you were mad?"

"No, I— I wouldn't ever do something like this to you, Luffy. I love you, you know that?" Zoro asks, "I don't think I said that to you yet, but I do."

"Zoro could've said that when I was alive!" Luffy laughs, but it sounds nervous. Strained. LIke he's not himself. He moves to learn forward on Zoro, seeking comfort in him and the confession he just made, but he falls right through Zoro's body. Luffy's eyes widen a fraction as he stares through Zoro's body, and Zoro moves a bit so Luffy's body isn't inside his.

"Luffy, don't panic," Zoro says, rather unhelpfully, "You did die, remember? You're a spirit, you're not tangible right now."

Luffy shakes his head, lifting his hand to fruitlessly try and slap Zoro on the chest, trying to make himself able to touch Zoro.

"I hate this!" He bites out, "I can-I can touch the ground, but not Zoro?!"

"I know, it sucks," Zoro says, "But Chopper's fixed your body up, and I'm going to take you back and revive you. Then you can touch the ground and me and everything else."

"How will Zoro get me out?" Luffy asks, "He can't pick me up."

"Well..." Zoro says. He taps the floor. "I was just going to open a portal below us, and we'd just fall through it."

"...Oh." Luffy looks at the false ground, staring at nothing. "I guess that works."

"Sweet," Zoro says. He taps the ground again, closing his eye and thinking about Chopper. Portals out of this space are just as hard as portals into it, but one opens below them soon enough.

Luffy falls through first, Zoro's falling more controlled. It's extremely clumsy for Luffy, tumbling through the portal until he lands in the real world once more, right into his body.

"Zoro!" Chopper gasps, "That took forever-you were gone for hours!"

"Was I?" Zoro says, looking over to Luffy. His body is clean and healed, not even a scratch to show for everything he'd been through. "It was only a few minutes for me... Not that it matters now. Luffy's soul is back."

"I patched him up completely-which I'm  _not_ supposed to do, you know!" Chopper huffs, in an angry way that looks by no means intimidating since he's not exactly scary looking. "You're lucky I like you."

"Yeah, I am," Zoro says, laughing a bit to himself. After all this time, Chopper is still ready and willing to help him without question. He really is lucky Chopper still likes him, isn't he? "Come on, let's revive the love of my life. He's been pretty excited to meet you."

Chopper nods, hopping onto Luffy's bed.

"...Um, Zoro?" He puts his hand over Luffy's chest, waiting for Zoro to place his down too so they could work to revive Luffy. "Before we start, I wanted to tell you that I really, really, really missed you."

"I missed you, too," Zoro says, "And whether this works or not, I promise I'm not just gonna vanish on you once it's over. I... want to be part of your lives again."

"Th-that doesn't make me happy! Asshole!" Chopper shrills, bouncing up and down. "Okay, let's revive Luffy! But don't tell Robin and them. We'll get in trouble."

"Right," Zoro says, "Thanks again, Chopper. I really owe you."

With that, Zoro puts his hand on Luffy's chest, right by Chopper's.

There's a warmth that spreads through Luffy as they use their domains to work through the revival. Zoro weaves the death from Luffy's body and Chopper weaves life back in. Zoro isn't quite sure how long this is supposed to last, as it was at this point they had failed to revive Merry. However, he refuses to let himself feel nervous or doubt their success for even a second. Luffy can't afford him losing concentration.

Luffy's body abruptly jerks like its been shocked. His back arches, then falls back on the bed as his heart restarts.

"Did it work?" Zoro asks, he and Chopper pulling their hands away. Zoro watches, anxious, as Luffy's chest begins to rise and fall again. He reaches over, grabbing Luffy's hand, feeling for a pulse. Luffy's hand is warm, and under Zoro's fingers he can feel the beat of Luffy's heart. Luffy groans seconds later. His eyes are unopened, but he's clearly awake.

"He's going to be exhausted." Chopper explains, "The healing process is no joke on a body, even if he was dead."

Zoro nods, sitting down on the bed next to Luffy. He holds Luffy's hand in both his own, watching Luffy's expression.

"Hey, Sunlight. Can you hear me?" Zoro asks, voice soft. Luffy groans again, shifting.

"Zoro?" He rasps.

"The one and only." Zoro grins. "Guess what? You're alive. How's it feel?"

"Feels like I'm hungry," Luffy mumbles, squeezing Zoro's hand as tight as he can.

"Makes sense," Zoro snickers, "Get some rest, and once you've slept, I'll fly you down to the next town and you can eat as much as you'd like. Cost be damned, alright?"

"Zoro doesn't have any money." Luffy laughs a bit, quietly. "It's cold."

"Do you want my cloak?" Zoro asks, "You lost it in the fall, but I grabbed it."

Luffy nods, so Zoro lies it over him.

"Are we on top of the mountain?"

"We are. Chopper helped me bring you back, but he's giving us some space right now." Zoro looks up to Chopper, who's pretending not to watch them interact as he hides behind a book he's clearly not reading.

"Mm… that's nice." Luffy smiles, pulling Zoro's cloak tight around himself. "And my brothers?"

Zoro frowns, pausing.

"Luffy, do you... remember what I told you the other day, about the rules for being allowed to revive people? Like, how many people I'm allowed to bring back, and whether or not someone who's been revived gets to…?" Zoro asks.

"Not really." Luffy responds.

"You're really going to make me say it, huh?" Zoro mutters, "Luffy, we can't bring Ace and Sabo back."

Luffy's eyes open at that, wide. He looks at Zoro, as though he's expecting Zoro to be joking.

"We can't?"

"I'm... sorry, Luffy," Zoro says.

"We can't bring my brothers back," Luffy whispers, "All this way, and..."

"Can you sit up?" Zoro asks. Luffy doesn't seem to care much for the question, but he sits up anyway, though he's so exhausted he feels like he might just fall back over. Zoro immediately wraps his arms around Luffy, pulling him into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Luffy. But I promise you, I'm not going anywhere. Brothers or no brothers, you won't be alone ever again."

"But my brothers..." Luffy whispers, leaning against Zoro with limp arms. "They both died for nothing."

"They didn't die for nothing. They saved you. That's not nothing," Zoro says.

"Zoro wasted his one revival on me." Luffy insists, shoulders shaking. "My brothers-we could've had my brothers again!"

"It's not a waste!" Zoro says, "Would you rather I have left you in that place?"

"No!" Luffy insists, "Why can't I exist with my brothers at the same time!?"

Zoro wishes he had an answer for Luffy, but he doesn't think any answer would make him happy.

"I'm sorry, Luffy," Zoro mumbles.

Luffy just cries into Zoro's shoulder, holding onto him. He cries for an ungodly amount of time, until it gradually dies down and he's way too tired to continue. Zoro cradles Luffy, petting his hair.

"Get some rest. You've had a long, terrible day," Zoro mumbles. Luffy shakes his head as he doesn't want to, moving his arms to grip onto Zoro's shirt. Zoro sighs, but he doesn't blame Luffy. Luffy did just die, after all. He just had the deepest rest any human will ever have.

"Okay. Do you want to talk to Chopper?" Zoro asks. There's not much he can do, after all, but try to take Luffy's mind off of everything. "You we're excited to meet him before."

Luffy raises his head a bit, then puts it back down. "...I'm not excited anymore."

"I guess that makes sense," Zoro says. He's spent centuries around those mourning the dead, but now that it counts, he can't find one good thing to say. Luffy closes his eyes and just leans on Zoro, clinging.

"...Is there no way for me to see my brothers?"

"Not unless you want to try out dying again and see if you can pass through this time," Zoro says. That in itself is another issue, though. Zoro has to figure out what's stopping Luffy from reaching the Afterlife before Luffy dies for good. Luffy grumbles, irritated and exhausted, moving his legs until they're wrapped around Zoro too, forcing the God to carry him. Zoro pulls Luffy close before standing, Luffy held tight. He'd been sure that they would succeed, and now—

"Uh, Zoro?" Chopper asks, stopping Zoro in his thoughts, "The other Gods want to talk to you."

"The other Gods?" Zoro blinks, still not entirely used to the one eye. "...About what? I just saw all of them this week."

"You did just break the laws of nature. Well, we both did," Chopper says, "So I think you're just gonna get yelled at."

"Great," Zoro mutters, "I don't want to have to put Luffy through another portal, especially now that he's alive again..."

"I'm coming." Luffy grabs onto Zoro's shirt, white knuckle in the fabric. "I'm not staying here by myself."

Zoro's shoulders slump. He's sure if he tried to put Luffy down now, he'd probably just tear his clothes with how tightly Luffy's gripping him.

"Do they want you to come too, Chopper?"

"Yeah, we've both gotta go," Chopper says, "...We could use one of my portals. They're a lot less harsh."

"Alright, fine. But I'm not happy about it." Zoro grouches, watching Chopper summon a portal. He adjusts his hold on Luffy, hoisting him a bit higher. Luffy barely relaxes his hold, exhausted as he is, as Zoro steps through Chopper's portal. Zoro has to bend over just to fit, but the portal itself isn't terrible. The process feels warm, in a way that's just barely tolerable. If this isn't harsh, Luffy wonders what Zoro's feels like.

The place they land in is very bright, the light making Luffy squeeze his eyes shut more. He barely looks around, instead burying his face in Zoro's shirt. Maybe he should've taken Zoro up on that nap, after all.

"They're in the meeting room?" Zoro scoffs, "I guess this is serious."

"You broke the laws of nature," Chopper mutters. He leads Zoro into the meeting room, where everyone else is gathered.

The meeting room is large with ten large and elaborate thrones in a circle, each throne reflecting the power and domains of his family members. Franky's, for example, is large, comfortable, elaborately constructed metalwork. Usopp's, meanwhile, is an old but lush tree bent to be suitable to sit on. Zoro's own throne is the smallest and least elaborate due to the lack of faith in him, though he's never really used it. He's only been up here maybe three times. As Zoro is busy making his way to the throne, Chopper takes his seat. Everyone else has gone quiet to watch Zoro. Robin clears her throat pointedly, gesturing Zoro to his seat. He shuffles over, sitting down at the table with them, Luffy in his lap. Luffy's still too upset to even try to open his eyes.

"Zoro." Robin folds her hands, "You are aware of why you're up here, yes?"

"You guys really like making my day more difficult?" Zoro tries.

"Yes," Sanji answers immediately, leaning forward from his place on his throne, decorated with symbols of flame. "Absolutely."

"I don't want to hear a thing from you," Zoro snaps. This whole mess is Sanji's fault, after all, even if Sanji doesn't realize it.

"Ouch! Don't be so damn touchy." Sanji frowns, wondering why Zoro got so snippy with him  _that_ fast. Usually it took a couple more jeers.

"You broke the laws of nature," Robin says over their bickering, commanding their attention. "You revived a dead human."

"Yeah. My original plan was to do two, so I think in the big picture I actually did pretty good, as far as law breaking is concerned," Zoro says.

"This isn't something to joke about, Zoro." Jinbe protests, "You are breaking the first rule we set when you figured out you could even do this."

"Yeah, well, special case," Zoro says, running a hand through Luffy's hair. Luffy's eyes are closed and he isn't saying anything, though when Zoro glances down and sees the serious look on Luffy's face he knows Luffy is listening.

"A special case doesn't matter!" Jinbe says, "You shouldn't be reviving humans-what if others found out about it?"

"What about it? Humans have been begging me to revive people since they learned how to pray. Nothing would change," Zoro says.

"Then they would start thinking of things they'd have to do for your good graces to get loved ones revived." Jinbe says, "They'd all want to be your special case."

"Yeah, we got one human who managed to get in my good graces in 2000 years. I think we'll be fine," Zoro says, "You're forgetting to account for how much humans hate me."

"But how much would they love you if they knew you could revive their loved ones? I bet you'd get a shit load of supplies at your temples." Sanji points out.

"What temples? I don't have any left. The last one burned down," Zoro says, looking down at Luffy. He really, really doesn't want Sanji to realize what happened and say it, because the last thing Luffy needs right now is another punch in the gut after everything else.

"Wait, that was your last one?" Sanji frowns, "Jesus, Marimo, if you told me I wouldn't have burnt that one down and would've gone for a statue or some shit! See what happens when you don't keep in touch?"

"You're so fucking stupid," Zoro sighs. He feels Luffy pull away from him to look at Sanji, and everyone they've run into the past few days who knows what happened to Luffy goes especially quiet.

"You did what?" Luffy asks, surprisingly calm.

"I lit Zoro's temple on fire." Sanji says, just as calm. "What? Why the hell is everyone giving me that look? I've done it to his past temples, I made sure it was empty!"

"It wasn't empty," Luffy bites, pushing on Zoro's chest. "Let me go. Let me up right now."

"It wasn't?" Sanji repeats. Zoro is about to protest, considering Luffy just woke up from being dead and needs to not be moving so much, but he decides to lift his hands.

Luffy climbs out of Zoro's hold on shaking legs, glaring at Sanji with all the intensity of the sun blazing on a summer day. It reminds Zoro of how Luffy was after the fire, barely able to stand but held aloft by sheer determination and rage. In a way, it makes sense. Luffy's been holding off on grieving with the promise his brothers would be returned, and now that this promise has been broken, he's stuck back where he started. Directing his anger at Sanji is just another way to ignore his broken heart.

"You took them," Luffy growls. "You took my brothers, you-!" Luffy launches across the room, Usopp slamming his hands down quickly and catching Luffy with a quickly grown tree, wrapping around his waist. Luffy slams his hand into the bark, crushing a few of the clovers that are starting to grow from it.

"I didn't know they were in there!" Sanji says, but he looks upset. Though some of the other Gods have domains that relate to death, such as Franky's destruction, Jinbe's disaster, and Vivi's war, none of them are really as comfortable with it as Zoro is.

Zoro gets up out of his chair to go to Luffy, though Luffy is too busy smashing his hand into the tree to care about whatever Zoro has planned to say.

"Let me out!" Luffy yells. The tree starts to splinter under his fists. "My brothers are dead because of him!"

"Yeah, I know," Zoro says, "But you're on trial right now, and as much as I'd love to see you hit the shit cook in the face, I really shouldn't let you go after him, and none of them are going to."

"I'm gonna fight him," Luffy growls, "I'm gonna make sure I hit him!"

"You're not really listening to me," Zoro says, lowering his voice some so the other Gods don't hear. "You're not supposed to be alive right now, Luffy, and the others are deciding whether or not you should stay this way."

Luffy looks back at Zoro, a fist still raised, and frowns.

"They're deciding if I'm gonna die again? But Zoro's in charge of death. They can't."

"They can. I'm in charge of death, sure, but there's a lot of ways to die," Zoro says. He takes Luffy's fist in both his hands, careful, pointedly ignoring everyone's eyes on them, then whispers, "Just calm down right now until we get out of here, and then I'll help you find a way to beat Sanji up later."

Luffy lowers his hand, clearly unhappy with the result, but nods. Sanji seems resigned, sitting back in his chair, almost like he really was just about to let Luffy beat him up.

Zoro touches the tree holding onto Luffy, and with a bit of help from Brook the wood dies and rots away so Zoro can pull Luffy out. He carries Luffy back to his throne, then sits down with Luffy in his lap again. Luffy seems to be in a begrudging sort of acceptance, at least for now. Zoro wraps his arms around Luffy, sighing.

"So, I broke the laws of nature," Zoro says, returning their attention to the meeting to keep it off of Luffy's attempted assassination. "But I don't think Luffy was supposed to die then."

"If he died, that means it was his time, intentional way or not." Robin says, "What makes you think he wasn't supposed to?"

"When humans are about to die, I can tell by looking at them. Luffy showed no sign of dying," Zoro says, "And his soul can't enter Afterlife. He was stuck in between."

"In between? Not many go there." Brook hums, tapping his skeletal fingers on the table. "Are you sure he showed no signs? Nothing you missed?"

"I'm sure. I'd been watching extra careful with Luffy, too, ever since I noticed that I can't foresee how he'll die," Zoro says, "He had no death I can see, had no omens, and can't pass on."

"Perhaps he's just meant for the in between," Robin says, "Many of the first souls were."

"There's no fucking way I'm leaving him there," Zoro says, tightening his hold on Luffy a little more. Luffy holds onto Zoro just as tight.

"I'm not going back there. I'm not. I don't care."

"That place is hell. You'd have to be a special sort of terrible to be left there for eternity," Zoro says, "Luffy may be irritating sometimes, but I'm not damning him to that."

Luffy tucks himself into Zoro, almost smug in the face of the other Gods.

"If you can't send him back, then what can we do?" Nami rests his chin in her hand, frowning, "Just let him keep living. It's not a huge deal."

Zoro glances at her a moment, and if she notices he looks grateful, she doesn't acknowledge. He just owes her a visit later is all.

"I'm not letting him stay dead until I figure out why he can't pass on," Zoro says, "You guys can do me this one favor after everything."

"We can, yes." Robin hums, "But once you can figure out the proper way to let him pass on, he needs to pass on, Zoro."

Zoro nods. If he wants Luffy to live a long life, he just has to literally never figure out why he can't reach Afterlife until Luffy is old.

"Understood," Zoro says.

"Does that work for everyone?" Robin looks around, "Zoro works to figure out why Luffy cannot pass on, and he passes on when he figures it out?"

There's a long silence. Nami watches the room, making sure no one objects. Usopp, Jinbe, Franky, and Brook-all those Luffy met on their quest-stay silent. Vivi, who's heard all about Luffy through the others and knows how much Luffy means to Zoro, doesn't object. Chopper just seems relieved no one called him out for his involvement in bringing Luffy back, though none of them are surprised. He idolized Zoro when he was younger. Sanji is silent, staring at the ground in front of him.

Nobody disagrees, and Zoro lets himself a moment of relief.

"Are we done here, then?" Zoro asks, standing with Luffy in his arms. He really wants to leave before everyone else changes their minds (or worse, they want to talk to him about family issues).

"Are we?" Robin questions, "Should we be discussing the fact you've agreed to come back to us?"

Zoro's starting to wonder if his family can read his thoughts and never told him. If so, he's real sick of it. However, he feels a lot less awkward about this topic now than he did a month ago. Before all of this, he couldn't imagine being in a room with everyone, talking about his possible return. Now, though, with Luffy's life no longer in the balance… he finds he isn't really nervous at all.

"What is there to talk about?" Zoro asks, "I... You guys made an effort. I'll make an effort, too."

"Good." Robin nods. "I wanted to make sure we were on the same page."

"It's good to have you back, Zoro," Chopper says.

"This is the first time we've had everyone together in what, 2000 something years?" Franky says, "Can make a guy a little emotional!"

Sanji is silent through the whole discussion, everyone starting to warm up to each other once again, even when Usopp informs Zoro that he's been spreading the true story about Merry through temples, to clear up Zoro's name.

"I can't change that you're the God of death, but I can change that particular story," he says.

"I appreciate it. Really," Zoro says, "I'd rather not find out what happens if I run completely out of priests. Another good reason to let Luffy live."

"But you still don't have any temples left." Nami says.

"I... I'll figure something else out, I guess," Zoro says, "Maybe this is another story worth spreading. Zoro actually made up with his family, include him in your joint temples and whatever."

Usopp laughs, "No offense Zoro, but I don't want my plants to die."

"...What about the empty temple?" Nami offers.

"The empty— I guess I could try..." Zoro says. He looks down at Luffy, "Hey, wanna be the first mortal to go on a tour of Skypiea?"

"I was the first mortal to do a lot of things, I think." Luffy mumbles, clearly still unhappy. "But okay."

Sanji stands, pushing his throne back. "...Can I talk to you two out of here?"

Luffy glares at Sanji immediately, as if angry Sanji's even trying to talk to him.

"Sure," Zoro says. He lowers his voice, whispering to Luffy, "I did promise you I'd let you get a hit on him."

"I wanna hit him more than once." Luffy grumbles, letting himself be carried out of the meeting hall with Sanji on their heels.

Zoro stops outside the hall, turning and facing Sanji. The outside is just as grand and impressive as the inside, but this is not exactly something Luffy is worried about right now, even if he'd usually find it something worth checking out.

"Before you say anything, I've got a promise to keep," Zoro says, setting Luffy on the ground. Even though he probably shouldn't be, he's pretty excited about this.

Sanji nods, Luffy immediately rushing forward and punching Sanji in the face, square in the nose. It's hard enough to send gold blood spewing out of it, but Sanji doesn't seem to be bothered by it.

"I'm sorry." Sanji says, looking at Luffy. "I deserved that. I probably deserve a lot more, too."

"My entire family is dead, my house is gone, I nearly died," Luffy says "Then I tried to bring them back and  _actually_ died, got sent to some weird pocket torture dimension for several hours, and all you've got to say is you're sorry!?"

Zoro would usually be enjoying Sanji getting pushed around, but with how upset he looks, he can't find it in himself to really find any fun in this. He's glad Luffy's getting this out, getting to confront him the God who burnt down his temple as a joke...He's glad, sure, but at the same time, Sanji is the god of Charity. He isn't used to dealing with death, he tries to avoid it as much as he can, countless times interrupting when Zoro was about take lives of the starving by blessing them with food and warmth.

"I don't know what else I can say to make this alright." Sanji admits, "I don't...I want to make this better. I want...Is there really no way for his brothers to return? Can't I help in a way?"

"...Hey, Luffy, didn't I promise you something to eat earlier after you came back?" Zoro says. He's very aware that suggesting Sanji can make a nice meal to repent for the murder of Luffy's siblings is... an insensitive stretch, but he's pretty sure the only thing Luffy is going to accept right now is beating Sanji to a pulp. He might as well get Luffy a nice meal out of this. "He's the God of food and cooking."

"Yes, I'll make you anything you want!" Sanji insists, "It'll be the best meal of your life. I can even make food to bring to your brothers."

"Bring to my..." Luffy trails off, looking to Zoro. "I never made Ace and Sabo a grave or anything."

"I can bring it directly to them," Zoro assures him, "I should probably go talk to them anyway. They were pretty worried about you, and... the basin is broken, so they have no idea you're alive..."

"Can Luffy interact with them up here?" Sanji asks Zoro, "I could bring the food to your temple."

"Can I?" Luffy asks, turning to Zoro. Zoro hums. He hadn't actually thought of that...

"You should be able to..." Zoro says, "Come on. I'll show you how to get there. He can meet us there with something for you to eat."

Luffy grabs onto Zoro, hopping into his arms unannounced so he could be carried there.

"Will they be ghosts?"

"The dead are usually intangible, like you were in between, but in my temple they aren't," Zoro says, catching Luffy easily, having expected it. "Come on, I'll show you to where they are."

"Ill start preparing the food." Sanji says, "I'll join you once it's done..." He seems to want to apologize again, but doesn't want to push it, so he steps back and lets Zoro carry Luffy away.

Luffy holds tight to Zoro, excited again for the first time since finding out his brothers couldn't be revived. He finally seems to take notice of his impressive surroundings, too, his love of exploration causing him to point out things to Zoro he wants to see after he's seen Ace and Sabo. Zoro grins a bit. Luffy really must be the luckiest man alive, going through everything he has and still coming out smiling for the light at the other end of the tunnel.

* * *

Ace and Sabo pace the floors of Zoro's temple, wrought with worry.

"Do you think Zoro's found him yet?" Sabo asks, biting his lip. "Why'd the basin have to explode? I just want to see him..."

"Good for nothing God... How does the God of death lose someone's soul? That's like if... uh..." Ace trails off, "I'm too mad at him to think of a comparison, but it's still stupid. If he comes back here empty handed, I think we should overthrow him and become the Gods of death ourselves."

"You know, you should really watch your surroundings before you say something so blasphemous." Ace turns when he hears Zoro's voice, but doesn't get to see Zoro before being tackled into a hug by someone incredibly familiar.

"Luffy!" Sabo exclaims, seeing the form now clutching onto Ace. He shoves himself into the hug as well, boxing Luffy in. "Holy shi-You got his soul out!?"

"Revived him, actually," Zoro says, "But that means we can't revive you, so... we're visiting."

Luffy wiggles in their hold, trying to adjust so he can hug both of them at the same time.

"I can visit whenever, right?! Right, Zoro!?"

"I..." Zoro sighs, "Yeah, but you can't be here all the time. You're still technically not supposed to be here."

Ace and Sabo close Luffy in their hug again. Zoro's exhausted attempts to pretend the rules still matter to him don't really phase them.

"It'll be like we never left." Ace promises, squeezing Luffy and Sabo. "We can stay together!"

"You're just lucky I like you enough to be breaking all these rules for you, Sunlight," Zoro mutters. Luffy laughs him off.

"Thank you, Zoro." Sabo turns to look at him, "To think, we were just losing faith!"

"Yeah, you're not the first. But hey, at least I've got one of you before you converted," Zoro laughs, "By the way, the guy who burned your temple down is coming soon to cook you an apology feast."

"The guy who burnt our temple down?" Ace repeats, "Who?"

"God of cooking, fire, charity, and forgetting to check that temples are actually empty," Zoro says.

"Sanji?" Sabo says. "Of all the Gods, I didn't expect him, but it was quite the fire..."

"Yeah, well, you know how it is with siblings," Zoro says.

"We got killed as a result of a sibling rivalry?" Ace questions, incredulous.

"Well... when you say it like that..." Zoro mutters. "It's… very much a 'go big or go home' sort of thing with Gods."

"Right. Well, I know I never killed anyone in a sibling rivalry," Ace says.

"Well, it's done now," Sabo sighs. Zoro walks past them.

"Come on, into the temple. I have a dining room we can wait in."

"What's Zoro got a dining room for? No one gives him food," Luffy says. Zoro shoots him a look, but he doesn't notice.

The dining room is nothing special. It's simple, wood furniture without any of the shiny ornaments present in the others' dining rooms, and there aren't too many chairs. Most notably, the table is broken, as are half of the chairs.

"...It's a little bit in need of fixing." Zoro mutters, "But it works."

"...Right," Ace says. Luffy's holding onto him and Sabo as they walk, both because he missed them and because he's still exhausted. They find places to sit, and Luffy practically melts into one of the broken chairs, sighing and leaning on the table with both his hands wrapped up in his brothers clothes.

"He's going to be like that for some time." Zoro explains to the brothers, "Being revived does that to you."

"I still can't believe you dropped our brother off a fucking mountain," Ace mutters, as Sabo rubs Luffy's back next to him.

"I didn't  _mean_ to." Zoro says, "I don't even know what happened. I got angry and suddenly the mountain crumbled."

"All the plants died," Ace says, "So all the roots shriveled up and the mountain lost stability. You knocked the floor out from under you."

"...At least we both fell?" Zoro offers pathetically.

"Yeah, but he died," Sabo says.

"And now he's not dead!" Zoro says, "I broke the laws of nature for him, give me  _some_ credit."

"No," Ace says.

"I'm hungry," Luffy whines, "I haven't eaten since... Hey, hold on! We didn't even eat breakfast!"

"No, we didn't." Zoro says, "I intended us to climb the mountain today, it's a days trip. But then you died."

"Zoro's the worst," Luffy mutters, looking off to the side. "The worst boyfriend ever, I want a new one."

"I'm the-I'm  _what_?" Zoro stands up quickly, his broken chair clattering onto the floor. Sabo and Ace stare at Luffy, then turn to Zoro, scooting closer to Luffy.

"The worst boyfriend ever," Luffy says, not noticing Zoro's shock. "What?"

"We aren't-Since when were we dating?" Zoro asks. He confessed to Luffy earlier, sure, but there wasn't agreement on a relationship, since they were preoccupied with Luffy's situation…

"Zoro took me dancing and told me he loved me. I figured..." Luffy says, "Zoro's kind of dense."

"I didn't  _take_ you dancing, we were forced into dancing..." Zoro mutters.

"Does Zoro not want to date me?" Luffy asks.

"I mean, I do..." Zoro says, "I do love you and all that..."

"And all that?" Ace mutters. This is probably the least romantic way of asking someone out that Ace has ever seen. Then again, it's not like Luffy has ever been super romantic.

"Then what's the issue?" Luffy asks.

"This is weird, doing this in front of your brothers," Zoro says, "The fact that I'm not human is something we'd need to think about. What about a few years down the line when you're old and I'm not?"

"That's okay, we'll figure it out. A bunch of the other Gods date humans," Luffy says.

"...Yeah, I guess." Zoro grumbles. He shouldn't be surprised at Luffy's optimism, really. That sunny disposition is part of why Zoro fell for him in the first place.

"So Zoro should date me," Luffy says, "Cuz we were kind of already doing it."

"I guess we kind of already are." Zoro says, "So fine. We're dating."

"Good!" Luffy grins, satisfied. He smiles, wide, and Zoro can't help but feel like everything he'd been worried about a second ago will all work itself out. Luffy's luck is like that.

"Now that you've got that figured out," Ace cuts in, "Zoro, quit stealing our moment."

"He started it!" Zoro points at Luffy, "I'll just leave if I bother you guys that much!"

"Don't leave yet," says a different voice. Zoro looks back to see Sanji, wheeling in a large cart of food. Godly food doesn't ever go bad, so he's not worried about making too much for them to eat. "I've got food for the rest of you."

"I don't need to eat." Zoro grumbles. Luffy shoots up at the mention of food, letting go of his brothers.

"I know. It's for them, remember?" Sanji says

"Right." Zoro steps back as Sanji puts the plates on the table, looking at them, hoping this would be… a decent peace offering.

"This had better be good!" Luffy says, "You have a lot to make up for!"

"I put my all into it." Sanji says, "I know it wont make up entirely for… well… killing you both, but..."

"No, it won't," Ace says, as Luffy digs in, "But if this is good, then—"

"It's good!" Luffy yells, cutting him off.

"I think Luffy's forgiven you." Sabo takes a plate for himself, much calmer in the way he eats.

"I haven't forgiven him!" Luffy says, "He has to cook for me till I die! Then I'll forgive him."

"I can do that." Sanji nods. "Especially since now you're dating Moss."

"Moss?" Luffy snorts, "I like that. I'm gonna call Zoro that too."

"Don't." Zoro growls, making a nearby plant wither into nothingness.

"Zoro's no fun," Luffy says. He finishes his plate, then turns and hugs Sabo. Sabo completely ignores him, which Zoro finds surprisingly cold until he realizes Luffy is just trying to use the hug to get to Sabo's food, which Sabo's clearly used to. Sabo acts patiently, pushing Luffy's hands away while also managing to eat his food.

"You aren't getting any, Luffy." He says after a moment, "Not even if you hug me."

Luffy makes an incoherent whining noise, pressing his face against Sabo's shoulder. When Sabo snubs him, he tries the same tactic on Ace with the same result. After growing up with Luffy doing this as a kid, it doesn't work in them. Not anymore, at least. Zoro muses on how Luffy's current tactic would probably get a bit of food out of him, but the brothers seem so unbothered. Ace eventually turns and tips Luffy's chair over, sending him to the ground.

Luffy yelps when hits the ground. Part of the chair's arm breaks off, though Luffy doesn't seem to notice. He sets his chair back, frowning.

"Ace and Sabo don't need to eat!" Luffy complains, "I'm starving! They can't starve!"

"We can still taste it, though." Ace says, without looking up from his food. "And it tastes delicious."

Sanji quietly slides a plate toward Luffy out of nowhere, enjoying their reactions to his food.

"Thanks!" Luffy says. He's in a much better mood than he was before, enjoying getting to eat with his family again. All the time they'd spent crossing the country to see Chopper, and this is all Luffy had really wanted the whole 'd wanted his family back, and he got it, even if it wasn't in the way he meant it to.

The three of them spend hours together, running around after eating and making a mess of the temple. Luffy drags Sanji into it at one point, an impromptu game of hide and seek that Zoro watches play out—ignoring the jealousy that bubbles up since he wasn't close enough to be grabbed by Luffy.

He's forced into the next game, easily finding all the hiding players, to which Luffy declares that he is now super bored with that and wants to do something else.

Something else ends up being laying on the clouds of Skypiea with his brothers, reminiscing. Zoro leaves them be, talking quietly to Sanji. He knows Luffy shouldn't be up here, they really need to get moving... But Luffy seems so happy, it's hard to convince himself to take Luffy away. He can only dig himself a hole so deep, though, so eventually he steels himself enough to tell Luffy they've got to go.

Zoro sighs and walks over to where Luffy and his brothers are laying. They go quiet when Zoro approaches, though Luffy's got a smile on his face.

"Hey, Luffy," Zoro says, "You can't stay here forever, you know."

"Aww." Luffy complains, the disappointment laced in his tone as blatant as can be, "but we were gonna hang out more."

"I know, I know," Zoro says, "But you'd hang out forever if you could, and you really can't. You're not supposed to be here."

"I could stay here. It wouldn't be an issue..." Luffy mumbles, wiggling closer to Ace, clearly reluctant to leave.

"Maybe if you were dead," Zoro says, "But the living can't be here."

"I  _was_ dead," Luffy says, "Does that count?"

"No," Zoro says, "Come on. We should find Chopper. His portals are probably the kindest to living humans."

"Can I come back eventually?" Luffy asks, squeezing onto Ace.

"Yeah, you can," Zoro says, even though he definitely shouldn't, "Come in. We can check out the other temples while we look for Chopper, if you want, cuz I don't remember which one is his."

Luffy grins, pushing himself up at the idea that he can explore and he can come back later.

"Okay! So I'll just see Sabo and Ace later. That's fine! Let's go look around."

"You'll like it," Zoro says, "It's all some pretty impressive stuff."

Luffy hugs his brothers, bidding them farewell. Zoro's surprised by how easily he lets go, but then again, Luffy is one who moves forwards easily. He catches up to Zoro quickly, linking their arms.

"Zoro's temple could be impressive, too."

"It used to be," Zoro says, "I wish you could see it."

Luffy hums, "We could always rebuild it. Once Zoro gets more people knowing the truth, then he'll get a better temple."

"Hope so. Wonder if you'll live to see it?" Zoro muses.

"Maybe!" Luffy says, "I've got a couple years left in me, right?"

"I don't actually know," Zoro shrugs, "I still can't see when or how you'll die."

"I'm a mystery." Luffy nods, proud of himself.

"That's not a good thing," Zoro mutters. He doesn't like feeling like his time with Luffy could end at any moment, but... Despite everything, Luffy seems happy at least.

They walk along the paths of Skypiea for quite some time, passing by other temples. Usopp's is one of the first they pass, completely lush with greenery and trees that all move freely within the temple, Luffy distracted by it. Strangely enough, being up here, looking at all the temples, Luffy felt like he was missing something. Something apart of himself.

"Like it up here?" Zoro asks, throwing an arm around Luffy. Luffy wraps his arm around Zoro's waist right back, walking in step with him.

"Yeah! It's all fluffy. I wish I could live up here."

"Maybe once you're dead," Zoro laughs, "Then we can spend eternity together."

"How often can I visit?" Luffy asks

"As often as I visit Chopper, I guess," Zoro shrugs, "Which I'm going to try to do a lot. I owe him that much."

"Zoro and Chopper needed to see each other again." Luffy muses happily, "Hey, Zoro, can we go look at that empty temple?"

"The... I guess," Zoro says, "I don't think I've ever visited, if I'm honest..."

"Then let's go!" Luffy says, "Maybe Zoro can make it his new home."

"What would I need another temple up here for?" Zoro asks, amused, "I've already got my own."

"You could get a better one." Luffy says.

"What makes you sure that it's better?" Zoro asks, "My temple is good!"

"Zoro's temple is falling apart. His chairs are broken!" Luffy says.

"To be fair, I don't usually have company," Zoro says, "And you broke one!"

"But I still think he'd like to live in a nicer place. So we should try the empty temple." Luffy says

"Sure, fine," Zoro snickers.

The empty temple is located on a hill, much like the one where Luffy used to work. It's set up more like a pavilion than a building, with large open windows and few walls. East of all the other temples, it's placement and architecture mean that in the morning the sun shines through the temple when it rises. It's over run, however, from years of not being kept. There's dozens of weeds around the grounds. Luffy walks through a large patch of dandelions, taking in his surroundings.

"Looks like Usopp's had his share of fun over here." Zoro snorts as he kicks lightly at a patch of dandelions. "There's nothing in the temple. Not even a statue."

Luffy doesn't answer Zoro, focused on the entrance. He approaches, putting an uncharacteristic amount of care into where he steps. Zoro follows silently, noticing that the clovers and dandelions Luffy walked on don't die the way everything else near them does on his approach.

The open temple seems especially welcoming to Luffy, who walks inside. The temple seems especially filled with gold, and on the ground below him is a large sun pattern.

"Zoro said Gods felt some... pull, right? When they found their domains?" Luffy asks.

"Yes, a pull." Zoro nods, stopping in the archway that led to the sunny, gold filled room Luffy stands in. He narrows his eyes suspiciously at the surroundings, the way Luffy fits in so well, like he was painted into the temple. The way the clovers bent and turned toward Luffy to face him, like plants looking toward the sun.

"...It's like your body has been walking your whole life to just lead you to your domain." Zoro explains further, observing Luffy's reactions, "To find your calling is something that changes your entire being."

"Right," Luffy says, "And then... How do you answer that, once you feel it?"

"You just...do what you feel is right." Zoro says. "When Merry died, I felt like I had to guide her to a safer place. What does your body say to do?"

Luffy stops in the center of the sun pattern, then turns back to Zoro. When he meets Zoro's eye, the room seems to fill with light.

* * *

"Then Luffy claimed his spot in the heavens as the new God of sun, luck, and happiness. He returned to meet the other Gods once more, Zoro on his arm, and we welcomed with open arms to Skypiea and beyond.

Luffy married Zoro later that year, and the Gods worked to spread the word of their newest addition. In the years that followed, numerous temples were built, such as ours!" The priest gestures around himself. The temple is lush with clovers, the lucky little plant thriving in places Luffy loved. The walls are decorated with a gold trim, which was meant to represent and reflect the sunlight Luffy commanded. The temple also housed a feeling of love throughout the grounds, which could be easily felt by any who entered. The priest then gestures to an impressive second altar. "Of course Zoro is included in this. He became the God of devotion at their wedding, finding his third domain through his loyalty to Luffy, and willingness to bend the rules for the man he loved."

A man smiles to himself as he leans on a broom, listening to the story.

"What're you doing over there, huh?" Another person says, talking quietly as to not disturb those gathered nearby. "You've heard that story thousands of time. You've lived that story, Sunlight. You aren't a temple worker anymore."

Luffy grins at his husband, sweeping some dust at him. He's disguised as a human, abandoning his shimmering gold robes for his preferred red vest.

"Zoro knows I just like exploring our temples."

"Yeah, yeah. I guess it's nice, getting to see these fancy ass buildings." Zoro bypasses the dust to sweep Luffy up in his arms, forgetting that he was trying to be quiet a second ago. He sets Luffy down again, but hovers near him. They've been together for roughly a decade now, so Zoro's become used to close contact. "Come on. I bought supplies around town, so we can set off again soon."

"Ohh! You repaired our ship, right?" Luffy quickly takes Zoro's hand in his, pulling him out of the temple and leaving a patch of clovers where he once stood. "Decaying all the wood like that just cuz he got cranky..."

"Yeah, yeah. Franky built it, though. It can take a lot more than a temper tantrum," Zoro says, laughing. Luffy's heart still swells when he hears the sound, one that he's been hearing far more often as of late. They head in a direction Luffy isn't actually sure is the docks. He doesn't really mind, though. He likes the exploration, he always has.

"Where to next, then?"

"We're visiting Nami and Vivi next, in Vivi's desert." Zoro squeezes Luffy's hand as they walk, pressing against him slightly, "Usopp's kinda mad we aren't visiting him for the fourth time this week, but he can live with it. I think he has a liking for you. Oh, and Chopper wants us back at some point too."

"I haven't been to the desert in a while," Luffy muses, squeezing Zoro's hand. He looks up to Zoro beside him, grinning softly.

"Hey, Zoro?" Luffy says, "I'm really lucky to have met you. I'm the luckiest man on Earth."

Zoro smiles at him, kissing Luffy's forehead.

"That's rich, coming from the God of Luck himself."

"Where does Zoro think I got all that luck from?" Luffy grins, leaning his head on Zoro's arm. Zoro is the luckiest thing that's ever happened to him, after all. Even more so than being a God, or going on amazing adventures to see fantastic and unbelievable places. In the end, it's his time with Zoro he cherishes the most.

Zoro's once said that Luffy made him feel like he's relaxing in the sun. Luffy had loved the idea back then, as Zoro had held him close and whispered his feelings. Now, Luffy couldn't be happier to be the God of the sun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lew: and that's it! we're done! thank you so much for sticking with us through this fic, sporadic updates and all. it means the world to me and mads. we loved every review we got here and on ffn, and we're both really happy we got to share this story with you! congrats to everyone who called luffy being a god, btw, you were right! i just love luffy/sun imagery. its my favorite.
> 
> let us know what you thought in the reviews if youd like, and most of all, i hope your day is wonderful!
> 
> (and hey. psst. like sun god luffy stuff? my friend anna (tumblr/twitter user vivrcard) is writing a fic abt sun god luffy and moon god zoro if youre interested... the fic is here on ao3. it's called "Sunkissed/Moonkissed" and her name is cienfleur. since her birthday is the 5th, i thought i would shout her story out) (...plus like. its good)


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